Apple earnings preview: More questions than answers
It’s been three months since we’ve taken Apple’s financial pulse, which can only mean that it’s time for a check-up. The company is set to announce its latest quarterly earnings on Tuesday, July 23, with a conference call to follow at 2 p.m. PT/5 p.m. ET. Macworld will once again be providing live coverage of that analyst briefing and its attendant Sisyphean question-and-answer session.
In terms of actual, shipping products, the landscape in Apple’s fiscal third quarter is not much changed from the last go-round. While Apple’s annual Worldwide Developer Conference has come and gone, most of what the company showed off there has yet to hit the market. So unless analysts plan to bombard Apple with questions about the latest revamp to the MacBook Air—“How do you get such amazing battery life?” “This is Tim. We’ve harnessed the power of magical wood elves.”—or pepper executives about the updated AirPort Time Capsule—“Why doesn’t it have a multitouch screen?!”—expect much of the talk to focus around analysts’ favorite area of interest: the future.
The numbers game
Apple’s still doing gangbusters—don’t let anybody tell you different. The company’s guidance for the current quarter forecasts revenue between $33.5 and $35.5 billion, with gross margins between 36 and 37 percent and operating expenses between $3.85 billion and $3.95 billion.
If Apple hits those numbers, which it should since the company provides guidance it’s confident of reaching, then that would make revenue roughly flat compared to last year’s third quarter. In the year-ago quarter, Apple brought home an even $35 billion, with a profit $8.8 billion, or $9.32 per diluted share.
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