Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) earnings will hit after the market closes this afternoon. The Cupertino company is one of the, if not the single, most followed company in the world. Earnings attract a large amount of interest, and are debated about for days and weeks after they are released. Today’s numbers will be no different.
Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Brian White reckons that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) investors have nothing to worry about in today’s earnings report. He raises his estimates for iPhone and iPad sales for the quarter through September, and puts a price target of $777 on the firm’s shares. Needless to say, he rates the company at Buy.
Apple earnings preview
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) should, according to White’s projections, show earnings of $8.06 per share. Revenue is expected to come in at $37.49 billion. This report saw him raise his projections from $7.23 and $34.57 billion respectively. By consensus analysts studying Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) are looking for earnings of $7.89 per share on revenue of $36.8 billion.
Mr. White is very optimistic about Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL). He reckons that the company’s higher selling prices on the iPhone 5C and the iPad Mini with Retina Display,will serve the company well over the full year 2014, and the iPhone 5C numbers should bolster results this afternoon.
White reckons that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) sold 32.96 million iPhones in the fourth quarter of the year. Apple refers to the three months through September as the fourth quarter. iPad sales are expected to come in at 14 million. The only dark spot on the earnings report, in White’s estimation, will be the company’s Mac numbers.
A poor year in the PC market and a rough back to school season will see Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) sell just 3.8 million. His previous target for the company’s PC sales was at 4 million.
Apple earnings ahead
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) earnings will probably not matter all that much in the longer term. The company’s future will not be defined by this afternoon’s release. There are a lot more important decisions that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) will have to make going forward.
The only major thing that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) could reveal in this afternoon’s earnings report would be related to its share buyback. It is possible that the company is going to take advice from Carl Icahn and buy back $150 billion of stock. If it does, expect the firm’s shares to jump in value after close.
