Apple to Report Quarterly Results Wednesday


Apple will report its results for the second fiscal quarter 2003 Wednesday. The company has not issued an earnings warning.

Analysts expect revenues to be in the range of $1.43-$1.46 billion, with annual sales running at around $5.7-5.8 billion. Analysts' consensus on Apple stock is 'hold', with very few suggesting strong buy or strong sell.

A low revenue result would be $1.4 billion, while $1.5 billion represents the upper range of analysts' expectations. Estimates are 2ยข per share.

Analysis: Depending on how many PB-12" and PB-17" orders Apple managed to ship, Cupertino could beat the Street, although reduced TiBook sales need to be taken into account. We shouldn't forget the discounted iBooks and iMacs have been selling well, while the impact of the recently-reduced eMac won't be seen until next quarter's results. As with the previous quarter, Power Mac sales are likely to be a ball and chain on results, although the higher average margins associated with PowerBooks may be enough to offset this.