Unaffiliated analysts, who often do a better job of predicting Apple’s performance than their professional counterparts, are taking an even more bullish view. Bullish Cross’s Andy Zaky–who called Apple’s Q4 EPS almost to the penny–for example, is looking for the company to post a $2 billion top-line beat. He sees Apple reporting $6.29 in earnings per share on approximately $26.3 billion in revenue. That’s quite a bit more than the $4.80 EPS on $23 billion that Apple’s guided for. Is it possible? We’ll find out this afternoon.

That’s a 16 percent spike, a far cry from the flat to five percent increase analysts had been anticipating. And if NPD is accurate, it means Apple has just had its best-ever June quarter for Mac sales.

Add to this indications that sales of the iPhone 3GS are tracking ahead of even Apple’s and AT&T’s expectations–remember, AT&T (T) said this year’s iPhone launch was its best-ever retail sales day and the largest ATT.com order day in the company’s history–and the quarter’s looking pretty damn good, even if the Apple’s iPod business is slowing down a bit.

So what can we expect? Apple (AAPL), known for giving conservative guidance, has said it expects earnings per share of between 95 cents and a dollar. Analysts are more optimistic. Consensus, as reported by Thomson Financial, calls for $1.16 per share. And folks like Andy Zaky over at Bullish Cross are betting on $1.35. Who’s right? We’ll find out tomorrow when Apple reports after market close.

When Apple (AAPL) releases its first-quarter results in January, Zaky believes the company will report earnings of $1.96 per share on sales of $11.29 billion.

That’s about $1.2 billion more revenue than most analysts are calling for.

“That would mark the largest revenue beat by any company I’ve ever seen, and will generally be an all out fantasy-like decimation of analyst consensus estimates,” Zaky writes. “Depending on where the stock price is at the time of earnings, where the consensus and whisper numbers stand going into the results, and the market’s current sentiment on equities, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a 20 point move in the stock price. This is a once in a blue moon type of earnings situation that will likely be far more surprising than Google’s results last April.”

A once in a blue moon earnings situation. If that’s truly the case, then why the big discrepancy between Zaky’s numbers and consensus estimates? Zaky says the street’s been addled in the head by the econanlypse.

“It has gotten to the point of irrational bearish exuberance, that the estimates no longer reflect even a scintilla of financial reality,” he writes. “The analysts have been consistently wrong in predicting Apple’s earnings results and this time they’re going to get their ‘hats handed to them,’ as the expression goes.”

Perhaps. We’ll see in January.

When Apple (AAPL) releases its first-quarter results in January, Zaky believes the company will report earnings of $1.96 per share on sales of $11.29 billion.

That’s about $1.2 billion more revenue than most analysts are calling for.

“That would mark the largest revenue beat by any company I’ve ever seen, and will generally be an all out fantasy-like decimation of analyst consensus estimates,” Zaky writes. “Depending on where the stock price is at the time of earnings, where the consensus and whisper numbers stand going into the results, and the market’s current sentiment on equities, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a 20 point move in the stock price. This is a once in a blue moon type of earnings situation that will likely be far more surprising than Google’s results last April.”

A once in a blue moon earnings situation. If that’s truly the case, then why the big discrepancy between Zaky’s numbers and consensus estimates? Zaky says the street’s been addled in the head by the econanlypse.

“It has gotten to the point of irrational bearish exuberance, that the estimates no longer reflect even a scintilla of financial reality,” he writes. “The analysts have been consistently wrong in predicting Apple’s earnings results and this time they’re going to get their ‘hats handed to them,’ as the expression goes.”

Perhaps. We’ll see in January.