MarketMatador.com just covered the release and madness of the initial sale of the iPhone, but it looks like sales might be even better than expected. There’s no public expectation or sales number that Apple (AAPL) was estimating or trying to accomplish, but the current numbers should support another record quarter of earnings.

The TechCrunch.com staff has been one of the first to report the numbers out of Piper Jaffray. PJ is estimating that “Apple sold half a million iPhones from 6 p.m. Friday through the close of business on Sunday. With the devices going for $500 to $600, that’s around $250 to $300 million in cash changing hands, depending on the mix of 4GB and 8GB units sold.”

While profit margins haven’t been clear for the device, estimates have ranged from 20 to 50 percent per unit. Many websites have already disassembled the iPhone to show that aside from the touchscreen, many of the inner parts are relatively normal and inexpensive. Therefore, profit margins could be as great as $300 per unit, with conservative estimates coming in at $120 per unit.

This has certainly been a blockbuster weekend for Apple. Today should be quite telling as to how investors interpreted the initial sales numbers.

Disclosure: Long Apple Inc. (AAPL)

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