NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- A slew of tech companies reported earnings after the closing bell Wednesday and just like the title of the classic Sergio Leone spaghetti western, investors were treated to the Good, the Bad and the Ugly. But fortunately for tech bulls, it was mostly good.

Apple (Charts) reported much better than expected earnings and sales that were roughly in line with projections thanks to strong sales of its popular iPod device. (Full story)

And cell phone maker Motorola (Charts) reported better than expected sales and earnings. (Full story) Shares of both Apple and Motorola rose sharply after-hours.

"The consumer is not dead. They are buying handsets from Motorola and they are still buying iPods," said Jane Snorek, a senior research analyst with First American Funds.

eBay (Charts) was also a bright spot, reporting sales and earnings that were in line with forecasts (although profits fell due to stock options expenses) and reaffirming its outlook for the third quarter. The online auction company also announced its first ever stock buyback program. (Full story)

On to the bad news. Intel (Charts), the leading manufacturer of semiconductors used in personal computers, underwhelmed Wall Street.

Intel's sales missed expectations and the company lowered its revenue and gross margin guidance for the third quarter. The stock dipped about 2 percent after hours. (Full story)

Intel is facing a tough challenge from its resurgent rival AMD (Charts) and has cut prices to stay competitive. One analyst said it could get worse for Intel before it gets better. "Price wars are easier to start than stop. We thought the environment for Intel would be difficult and are not expecting any good news form them at all," said Ted Moore, a tech analyst with National City Private Client Group.

Finally, the ugly. Qualcomm (Charts), a maker of chipsets used in cell phones and other wireless devices, issued earnings and sales guidance for its fiscal fourth quarter that was below consensus estimates.

"Expectations were set very high for Qualcomm," Moore said. The stock tumbled more than 5 percent in after-hours trading. (Full story)

Wednesday's reports came after a mixed bag of earnings results from two tech leaders Tuesday. Search engine firm Yahoo! (Charts) posted second-quarter sales that missed estimates slightly and gave tepid guidance for the third quarter. Shares of Yahoo plunged 22 percent on the Nasdaq Wednesday.

But a solid report from tech bellwether IBM (Charts) Tuesday helped to offset the disappointing results from Yahoo. Big Blue reported better than expected earnings for the second-quarter and reaffirmed Wall Street's growth forecast for 2006. Shares of IBM, a Dow component, gained nearly 2.5 percent on the New York Stock Exchange Wednesday.

One fund manager said it should not come as a surprise to investors that tech results are all over the map.

"In any earnings season, it should be a bit of a mixed bag, particularly since we are in a kind of flattish market," said Kevin Landis, chief investment officer with Firsthand Funds, a money management firm that specializes in technology investing.

And overall, tech stocks rallied along with the broader market Wednesday thanks to comments from Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke. He hinted in comments to Congress that the economy is slowing, remarks that Wall Street interpreted as a signal that the Fed may soon be done raising interest rates. (Full story)

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