“Prior to Tuesday afternoon’s earnings announcement, most investors didn’t seem worried about Apple Computer’s fourth-quarter results,” Troy Wolverton reports for TheStreet.com. “Maybe they should have been.”
“While the company topped bottom-line expectations, its sales fell short of Wall Street’s estimates. More importantly, iPod sales were nowhere near the heady number bandied about on Wall Street. And following the company’s earnings announcement, its stock dropped like a rock,” Wolverton reports. “Excluding several tax benefit items, the company earned 38 cents a share, which narrowly beat Thomson First Call’s analyst consensus estimate of 37 cents a share. But at least on the revenue line, it wasn’t good enough for the Street.”
[Apple’s actual revenue: $3.69 billion vs. analysts’ consensus estimate: $3.73 billion]
“In the quarter, Apple shipped 6.45 million iPods. In contrast, analysts were expecting the company to ship in the neighborhood of 7 million units, and some whisper numbers were reaching as high as 9 million units,” Wolverton reports. “Although the Street might have been getting ahead of itself, Apple’s results were nothing to scoff at. iPod shipments might not have been as high as some were hoping, but they still rose 5% from the company’s third quarter and 220% year-over-year. Meanwhile, the company’s line of Macintosh computers posted strong sales as well, with unit shipments up 5% sequentially and 48% from the fourth quarter a year earlier.”
Full article here.
Apple shares currently stand at $46.06, down $5.53 from market close of $51.59 in extremely heavy after-hours trading volume of 9,798,006.
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