Will Apple beat expectations at the upcoming earnings call?

Posted Jan 16th 2007 10:35AM by Tobias Buckell
Filed under: Earnings Reports, Forecasts, Products and Services, Apple Inc (AAPL)

Apple, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in its last earnings report declared that 2007 was going to be an exciting year for the company. It may be exciting in all the wrong ways, however, as legal battles are already shaping up over its next major product and with a continuing investigation into stock options irregularities. It will be both a great year for products, and an interesting year to watch how this company makes it through some upcoming challenges. How Apple starts the year with announcements about its earnings over the holidays could have an important impact on the stock.

In Apple's last meeting in October, Peter Oppenheimer said to expect $6 to $6.2 billion of revenue and $0.70 to $0.73 earnings per share.

Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) calls for better-than-expected results, somewhere in the vicinity of $0.79 per share and $6.38 billion. Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster also expects earnings to come out a few pennies higher, and Munster often seems to read Apple retail better than other analysts.

With analysts betting on above-expected earnings, and such signs as iPods flying off the shelves and high traffic to Apple retail and websites, the money looks to be on Apple to beat earnings. But what's your vote?

Also check out some other earnings reports that we're following, and let us know your thoughts on earnings expectations.

Tags: AAPL, apple 2007 earnings, apple holiday traffic, apple retail, Apple2007Earnings, AppleHolidayTraffic, AppleRetail, Gene Munster, Goldman Sachs, iPod, Peter Oppenheimer, PeterOppenheimer, Piper Jaffray

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

1-16-2007 @ 1:27PM

BILL said...

Expect Apple to exceed analysts' consensus by 25 per
cent, coming in between $0.96 and $0.99. Stock should
reach $105 post announcement. Apple is not cheap at
this level but has excellent long term potential. The
options "scandal" should not be a factor, since Apple
voluntarily disclosed irregularities, but this is a
risk. The legal battle for the iPhone name should be
settled out of court, or Apple will just use the name
MacPhone (or iPodPhone), strengthening the Mac or the iPod
brand names.

1-16-2007 @ 5:58PM

Yumgo said...

Apple will ride out any immediate threats from both the options scandal and iPhone trade mark issues.

This would lead the stock to rise past $120 come end of Q1 2007.

1-16-2007 @ 5:46PM

ALAN M. SMITH said...

I HEARD SOMEONE SUGGEST THE FOLLOWING NAME FOR THE APPLE PHONE AND I PERSONALLY THINK IT IS GREAT.

THE NAME MENTIONED WAS "APPLE PI" EITHER AS ONE WORD OR TWO.

AGAIN, IT WAS NOT MY IDEA BUT IS WORTHY OF CONSIDERATION.

1-16-2007 @ 8:01PM

StockTube said...

i would think apple will beat the earning estimate, just like the previous quarters ... the only concern is whether they'll announce any figures which do not satisfy the huge appetite of analysts ...

but with the iPhone buzz, the good-feeling is in the air ... so even if apple were to disappoint, it should immediately pick-up soon ...

nevertheless, december has been good season for apple due to year-end sales ...

cheers ...
http://stocktube.blogspot.com