Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Apple Q3: BOOM!
The economy is in recession, consumer spending is down and the PC market is in the worst decline since the Great Dark Times of 2001. And Apple is doing just fine. After market close Tuesday, the company reported earnings that crushed the Street’s estimates into a fine iPod-white dust. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters estimated that Apple would earn $1.16 per share on $8.16 billion in sales. Instead, it earned $1.35 on $8.34 billion for a profit of $1.23 billion.
Apple has $29 billion in cash, no debt, a 36 percent gross margin, and it’s on the cusp of another iPhone ugrade cycle. Little wonder, then, that analysts are raising their target prices on the company’s stock. Among those doing so today: Morgan Stanley’s Kathryn Huberty, who says “Apple is emerging as the clear leader in the battle over the mobile Internet.”
Morbidly inclined investors and business media can speculate all they like about Apple CEO Steve Jobs’s health and Apple’s future with or without him, but in fact, the company has never been healthier. Apple just reported a blowout quarter.
