Apple will report fiscal Q2 2020 earnings results after the close of trading on Thursday.
The current Wall Street analyst consensus revenue forecast is $54.6 billion, but the estimates run a wide gamut, with the low end of the Street range at $45.6 billion. The consensus profit estimate is $2.27 a share, but again, the range is gaping, running from $1.73 to $2.73 a share.
The company is widely expected to announce a new stock-repurchase plan. Apple has promised to eventually reach a zero net cash position; the company had about $100 billion in net cash at the end of the December quarter. Expectations are for a buyback in the $50 billion to $100 billion range, and potentially a dividend hike.
Will Apple provide June quarter guidance? Given how low expectations are, it would be hard to shock investors, but the lack of any guidance would nonetheless disappoint. For the June quarter, the current consensus is $51.78 billion in revenue, with profits of $2.10 a share, but those are more guesstimates than estimates…
There have also been widespread reports of strong demand for laptops for remote workers and students. Investors will want to know how Macbook and iPad demand have held up in the downturn.
MacDailyNews Note: Apple is slated to report Q220 earnings results after market close on Thursday, April 30, 2020. We’ll have them for you as always right around 1:30pm PDT / 4:30pm EDT. Apple’s conference call to discuss Q220 results is scheduled to start right after that at 2:00pm PDT / 5:00pm EDT. We’ll cover the conference call with live notes as usual, too. Just check our home page around 1:45pm PDT / 4:45pm EDT on Thursday, April 30, 2020 for that link.
I don’t understand why Apple wants to reach a zero net cash position. Except maybe for shareholder greed. Could someone please explain that to me?
I’d like an explanation too please.
“In general, investors want to see cash reinvested in the business to drive growth if there are good uses for it. These uses can include acquisitions that expand the company’s market or even more research and product development. If there are no investments within the business that can be made to accelerate growth, then investors generally want to see that cash returned to them rather than invested poorly.” – Investopedia
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/cash-neutral.asp
You already explained it. T
he big shareholders (not like you or me that have several thousand shares, of AAPLbut those that have many, many, many thousands of shares) are in it for growth. If the apparent value (paper value or not, it does not matter) is not growing over time at a rate they wish, they are unhappy and go elsewhere. One way to placate those shareholders is to use cash to buy back stock and issue dividends. (which indirectly supports or inflates stock prices)
Also the Street organizations LIKE it when a company is in debt to them (up to a point). The don’t like it when a company the size of Apple is not indebted to them in any way. They don’t have the ear of the CEO or the board if the company is not indebted to them in any way. In this case it’s more about indirect control than about pure money.
I had wanted Apple to acquire some type of cloud business because Wall Street has always loved companies that have cloud services and supposedly it was low-hanging fruit in terms of easy revenue. I guess it’s too late, now. I would like to see Apple make some nice acquisitions, but I don’t know what would be good for the company. Maybe something that has to do with advanced battery tech. If Apple isn’t interested in acquisitions, I’ll settle for a nice increase in dividends.
I’m not expecting much from Apple this quarter and I’ll be satisfied if the stock doesn’t drop a huge amount. There are more important things at stake in the world right now, so I understand if Apple couldn’t sell as many products as usual. I’m not sick and I’m glad about that. As long as I feel Apple is doing the best it can, then I shouldn’t complain. Apple is likely to do much better in the later part of this year.