Play all audios:
A pair of bullish Apple analysts each focused on the bright spots in a third-quarter earnings report that showed mixed results for the tech giant. Apple reported better-than-expected
earnings Tuesday, beating Wall Street estimates of $1.23 per share by 5 cents. The company fell short on revenues and also provided lighter-than-anticipated fourth-quarter revenue guidance.
On CNBC's "Fast Money," Piper Jaffray Managing Director Gene Munster said that the key metric he was focused on was gross margins. Ahead of last year's September quarter,
Munster said that investors were "petrified that gross margin was going to perpetually decline." This quarter, he said, those fears were largely relieved. "What's ended
up happening is they ended up beating it … it's going to give investors some confidence over the next few quarters," he said. Munster also said there's still plenty of room to
grow in China, even as Apple reported that iPhone sales had risen nearly 50 percent in the third quarter. "We're still just scratching the surface (in China)," he said. RBC
Capital Markets analyst Amit Daryanani similarly focused on potential growth in the coming quarter, particularly as it relates to new products including the much-anticipated iPhone 6 and a
possible wearable device. Read More Apple earnings: $1.28 a share, vs. expected EPS of $1.23 Daryanani said that Apple's next quarter guidance may hold clues as to the timing and
release of these new products. "The September quarter guide this time implies sales up about 3 percent sequentially. This is different than the historical practice when they tend to
guide September flat to almost down sometimes. That may suggest a modestly ahead-of-plan iPhone launch, or a new product launch altogether," he said. —_By CNBC's Michael Newberg_