“There’s a guessing game that goes on with Apple’s quarterly financial reports which goes something like this: Apple gives realistic yet understated forecasts for sales and profit in the coming quarter. Analysts, knowing Apple usually predicts lower results than it delivers, then read tea leaves to give clients the real deal on what to expect,” Arik Hesseldahl reports for BusinessWeek.
“Judging Apple’s current quarter, the first of fiscal 2008, is even more of a mystery. On Oct. 22, when Apple reported fourth-quarter results, Oppenheimer gave what seemed like unusually aggressive targets. Sales would hit $9.2 billion during the all-important holiday quarter, about $700 million higher than the average estimate by Wall Street analysts. Hitting the guidance would mean a 29% increase, compared with 23% a year ago,” Hesseldahl reports.
“Was Apple taking a new tack and giving aggressive numbers closer to the ‘real’ target or still giving the understated outlook? The consensus among analysts seems to be the latter, and they’re back to making predictions for the coming year that may send the minds of even longtime Apple watchers reeling. Even some of the most optimistic among them may be right,” Hesseldahl reports.
Hesseldal covers analysts’ AAPL forecasts, rumors of a thinner, lighter Apple notebook and an Apple tablet, and more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Readers “I ♥ MDN” and “Patrice” for the heads up.]