Apple is going to announce its quarterly earnings tomorrow, and investors are skeptically watching the company to see what’s new.
Last quarter, Apple’s stock fell following its earnings release after the company announced guidance for this quarter that showed a year-over-year revenue decline, in part because of some changes in accounting practices. But while the drop may be explainable, growth-oriented investors are concerned that the Cupertino-based company may not be as capable of turning out new blockbuster products that drive massive financial growth.
Analysts from the Thomson Reuters survey expect Apple will announce it pulled in more than $43.5 billion in revenue with earnings of $10.18 per share. If tomorrow’s release meets those expectations, the company’s revenue and profits will have been roughly flat year-over-year, which is not what some investors want to see.
That said, Apple is still projected to post greater earnings and revenue than Microsoft and Amazon combined. The company is hugely profitable, but seems to be having a hard time growing as quickly as it did in years past.
When Apple CEO Tim Cook and CFO Peter Oppenheimer sit down for tomorrow’s earnings conference call, it seems likely that the two men will have to field a number of questions about what the company plans to do in order to grow more rapidly. Analysts will be interested to see how sales of the iPhone and iPad have been going, especially in China, where Apple finally landed a deal with China Mobile to sell the iPhone.
Analysts will also be interested to try and figure out what new products Apple has coming, especially since the company didn’t host a major press event this quarter. Given Apple’s past trends, the company isn’t likely to announce anything significant until its Worldwide Developer Conference in June. That may be a tough pill to swallow for investors who want to see Apple release something new and release it now.
