Apple Earnings Preview

Bear Stearns analysts Andy Neff, Bill Hand and Ted Chung sent a note to clients this morning previewing Apple's F1Q08 earnings today after the bell (find the conference call transcript here, later on tonight). Key excerpts:

Tuesday 1/22 @ 5:00pm ET: AAPL 1Q08 EPS after market close – expect revenue & EPS upside on Leopard/Mac/iPod/margin strength.

Given continued strength in Mac, iPod, iPhone and Leopard Mac OS (shipped 5mm in first 3 months) coupled with continued favorable component pricing and mix (higher software), we expect AAPL to report 1Q08 revenues and EPS above our Street-high estimates (which is already well above company guidance).

· While AAPL is likely to provide conservative 2Q08 outlook (Mar) given company conservatism and macro-economic uncertainty, we remain optimistic given momentum in Macs (e.g., new MacBook Air) and expected rollout of iPhone in Asia.

· Post-option EPS of $1.75 vs. $1.14 a year ago (guidance is for $1.42; First Call consensus is at $1.62)

· Revenues of $9.67bn, up 36% year/year (guidance is for $9.2bn; First Call consensus is at $9.47bn), with Mac units of 2.19mm, iPod units of 24.95mm, and iPhone units of 2.13mm

· On 1/14, we lowered our estimates across our entire coverage within the IT Hardware sector to reflect our assessment of macro concerns -- all of our estimates cuts were going forward(i.e., not for the December quarter)

Comments

[Donkey:]

No one comment today? everyone is scared of AAPL doesn't beat wall st. estimate?

to be honest I don't think they will either that's why I sold half.

2008 Jan 22 03:54 PM