Q3 Apple Earnings: Hold and Wait for the Boom
by John Paczkowski
Posted on July 20, 2009 at 3:23 PM PT
Well, nobody is buying Apple’s conservative estimates for this quarter. Certainly not after the release of the latest Mac sales data from NPD Group this morning. Analysts had been calling for Apple to sell 2.45 million Macs in its third quarter. Instead, NPD says the company sold approximately 2.6 million.
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.
Comments
I am so confused.
Apple does not sell any low-priced netbooks. How can they be doing well?
Apple does not make an iPhone that works with Verizon’s system. How can they be doing well?
Apple has not licensed Mac OS X to run on myriad machines. How can they be doing well?
Apple won’t let people buy music from the iTunes Store and play it on their Zune. How can they possibly be successful?
Posted by Dave Barnes at July 20th, 2009 at 9:53 pm