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“The biggest highlight in Apple’s fiscal Q3 earnings report was its uncharacteristically aggressive revenue guidance,” Zaky writes. “The street was generally looking for Apple to provide guidance in the range of $16 to $16.5 billion, and Apple far exceeded those estimates with their incredible $18 billion estimate. Everyone knows Apple’s management to be overly conservatively when providing forward looking statements. So to see an $18 billion estimate come out of Apple was clearly the biggest surprise I’ve witnessed in a long time.”
Zaky writes, “Yet, as many Wall Street analysts have noted in their estimates, there’s reason to breathe caution into the air when relying on Apple’s guidance this quarter. I believe Apple’s management has become slightly more aggressive with its estimates simply because I don’t see where Apple will be able to derive the revenue to far exceed its own expectations this time around. The street is generally modeling for Apple report $3.95 in EPS on $18.29 billion in revenue. While I think the street is a tad bit low in its forecast, I don’t believe Apple will beat estimates by quite as wide of margin as it has in recent quarters. I’m currently modeling for Apple to report $4.45 in EPS on $19.1 billion in revenue.”
Much more in the full article – recommended – here.