“When Apple Computer Inc. reports fiscal third-quarter results after the market closes Wednesday, investors will be paying close attention to what the company does – or doesn’t — say about the next version of its wildly-popular iPod digital media player,” Rex Crum reports for MarketWatch.
“Analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call expect that Apple will earn 44 cents a share, up 19% from a year earlier, and post sales of $4.4 billion in revenue, a 25% rise,” Crum reports. “Still, Apple shares have fallen more than 25% this year on concerns about whether the company will be able to maintain the profit growth – driven by surging iPod demand – that helped spark huge stock gains during 2004 and 2005.”
“While Apple is unlikely to give details of the product today in advance of Jobs’ keynote presentation at the conference next month, what company executives say about iPod demand, both for the just-ended quarter and the remainder of 2006, may impact the stock,” Crum reports. “Analysts and investors are looking for any signs about the strength of second-half demand because the back-to-school season and the holiday shopping season are key periods for iPod sales.”
“Apple investors will also want to hear about the level of demand for Macintosh personal computers. Apple in April released Boot Camp, a free software download that enables its new computers powered by Intel Corp. microprocessors to run Microsoft Corp.’s Windows XP operating system,” Crum reports. “The overwhelming majority of the world’s PCs use Windows, and some analysts have speculated that the move could help raise Apple’s single-digit share of the global PC market.”
Full article here.
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Wall Street focused on Macs over iPods as Apple releases third quarter results today – July 19, 2006
Apple FY 06 Third Quarter Results Conference Call this Wednesday – July 18, 2006
