“Last quarter Apple (AAPL) reported earnings of $7.47 per share, compared to the consensus earnings estimate of $7.30 per share and the Earnings Whisper ® number of $7.43 per share,” eWhispers writes for Seeking Alpha. “This was the first beat since April 2012 for the bottom-line, but the top-line still missed whispered expectations. The main reason the company was able to beat earnings per share expectations was a 36 million share buyback that took ten million shares out of the weighted average share count used as the denominator in the per-share math.”
“The company had guided for revenue of $33.5 billion to $35.5 billion and revenue whispers were $36.5 billion compared to the consensus estimate of $35.2 billion. The company reported $35.3 billion,” eWhispers writes. “That revenue number gave more support to the realization that Apple is no longer Steve Jobs’ company and the practice of low-balling guidance to easily hurdle later is a thing of the past. Few analysts believe there is much reason to expect that to change this quarter.”
eWhispers writes, “So, for the fiscal fourth quarter ended September 30, 2013, Apple guided revenue of $34.0 billion to $37.0 billion with gross margins of 36.0% to 37.0%. The company also provided guidance for operating expenses of $3.90 billion to $3.95 billion, other income of $200.0 million, and a tax rate of 26.5%. Plug those numbers in and you get an earnings per share range of $6.75 to $7.94 per share using 924.2 million shares. The consensus earnings estimate was set at $7.69 per share until September 23, 2013 when the company filed a statement with the SEC that it sold more than nine million new iPhone 5s and 5c models during the first three days of availability and, as a result, expects revenue and gross margins to come in at the high-end of its guidance range. The consensus earnings estimate is now $7.92 per share on revenue of $36.82 billion. The Earnings Whisper number is $8.02 per share, which is the very high end of the guidance range after adjusting the share count to 915 million. Regardless, as long as revenue is $37.0 billion or below and gross margins are 37.0% or below, the results will be viewed as in-line and that is what nearly every real analyst, on both the buy and sell-side, expects for the quarter.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Note: As usual, we’ll have Apple’s results for you as soon as they are available, right around 4:30pm EDT on Monday, October 28th and then live notes from Apple’s Q413 conference call starting at 5pm EDT.
Related articles:
All eyes on Apple’s Q413 earnings today as stock futures edge higher – October 28, 2013
Apple to webcast Q413 earnings release conference call on October 28th – October 8, 2013
Don’t know why I try to read this stuff. Just a bunch of numbers to me. Gives me a headache.
Naturally, if Apple hits the number that “every real analyst, on both the buy and sell-side, expects for the quarter”, the stock will go down anyway.
The fix is in.
There is such a thing as a real analyst?
Sheldon’s favorite number is 37. He said it is the super hero of numbers. lol
“every real analyst”
Code for, “bozo’s who pull numbers out of their ass and then try and convince everyone how smart they are”.
I loathe whisper numbers and guidance. Any hype puts unnecessary pressure and expectations on a company’s stock price, and that can often lead to disappointment, and a resulting swoon in a stock’s price. If I have to read one more stupid article following earnings opening with “Analysts expected…” I will personally barf.
I wish that I could be as inaccurate and incompetent as most stock analysts. It’s incredible to see how much they are paid for looking backwards, not forward, and how badly they do their job, which is essentially to make accurate projections. If I were that bad in my job, I’d be pounding the pavement quickly.
My advice: cover your ears. Remember this is but a point in time. Be a patient investor and look at the long-term trends for Apple and other companies in which you invest. Sadly, Apple is a focus of hype and hysteria, and truth is usually the first victim when it comes to accurately evaluating the company’s progress.
We do live in a strange world.
The only thing low-balled in this piece is the overly obvious attempt to slam it to aapl right before reports are out.
What a bunch of sleeze bags.