Apple’s Fourth Quarter Earnings Preview: What Wall Street’s...

October 20, 2014

BYLaurie KulikowskiFollow | 10/20/14 – 10:38 AM EDT|

Stocks in this article: AAPL
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NEW YORK (TheStreet) – Apple (AAPL) reports fiscal-fourth quarter earnings after the market closes and all eyes will be on the company’s iPhone sales, following the debut of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus in early September.

Consensus estimates are calling for the Cupertino, Calif.-based company to post earnings per share of $1.30 for the September-ending quarter, up 11% from last year’s quarter. Revenue is expected to rise 6% to $39.87 billion for the quarter, according to Thomson Reuters.

Must Read: 10 Best Apple Products Ever

Analysts are already looking ahead to December quarter results with some concerned about the high expectations for iPhone shipments. As well, last week Apple launched its latest models for the iPad Air and iMac. The company also announced its mobile payments initiative, dubbed Apple Pay, would go live, starting today.

Must Read: Apple Unveils the iPad Air 2 and Latest iMac: What Wall Street’s Saying

Apple shares were up 1.5% to $99.15. Here’s what analysts had to say.

Brian White, Cantor Fitzgerald (Buy: $123 PT)

During our China Tech Tour, we highlighted unusually strong demand for Apple’s new iPhones heading into the December quarter, and we believe the appetite for these new devices in China and across Asia will prove to be an epic event. Since our trip, Wall Street’s expectations for Apple have risen; however, we believe the stock still remains undervalued at just 10.8x our CY:15 EPS estimate (ex-cash). At the same time, we believe fears around Apple’s position in the smartphone market are melting away and the company is on the cusp of launching a new product category with Apple Watch in early 2015. In our view, the market needs to start thinking more boldly about Apple and appreciate the company’s opportunity to reinvent new product categories for years to come.

We believe Apple will meet our 4Q:FY14 revenue estimate of $40.5 billion (FactSet Consensus is at $40.0 billion) and slightly exceed our EPS projection of $1.27 (Consensus is at $1.31). Our 4Q:FY14 forecast reflects an 8% QoQ sales increase and Apple’s 4Q:FY14 outlook calls for revenue of $37-40 billion.

Must Read: 10 Best Apple Products Ever

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