![]()
| As of Monday, November 23rd: |
LATEST EARNINGS RESULTS
- Bear, Lehman Execs Weren't Wiped Out by Crisis: Study
- How Real Estate Investors Skew Housing's Reality
- Even Buffett's Huge Fame Can't Help the Name 'Warren'
- Wave of Debt Payments Facing US Government
- US Job Losses to Bottom out Next Quarter: NABE
- Obama Jobs Forum May Be More Political Than Practical
- Maria Blog: Are Crazy Retail Deals Good for Business?
- Suze Orman’s 'A Healthier, Wealthier You'
- Latest Holiday Drinks: The Madoff...and the TARPatini
- Buffett's Wealth and Fame Hasn't Helped 'Warren' As a Name
- Are Crazy Retail Deals Good for Business?
- Expect a 'Square Root-Shaped' Recovery: Chief Investor
- Madoff—The Holiday Drink
- HP to Feed on Enterprise Spending Next Year: Tech Analyst
- Busch: Markets Smell a Country Rat
- Schork Oil Outlook: Mission Impossible For The Bears?
- S&P Stocks Trading at New 52-Week Highs
- Losey: Asset Allocation At Retirement
MOST SHARED
- The 'Real' Jobless Rate: 17.5% Of Workers Are Unemployed
- Existing-Home Sales Jump To Highest Level in 2-1/2 Years
- Wave of Debt Payments Facing US Government
- Start-Up Proves Everything Really Is Better With Bacon
- TV Retailer QVC Joins `Black Friday' Frenzy
- S&P Stocks Trading at New 52-Week Highs
- China Asks Its Banks to Slow Down
- Paul: Audit the Fed
![]() |
Click here for more earnings info |
Apple said its current-quarter earnings would be well below Wall Street targets, sending shares in the maker of Macintosh computers and iPod music players down nearly 9 percent in after-hours trading.
While Apple [AAPL
Loading...
()
] has a reputation for giving conservative financial forecasts, its view for the fiscal fourth quarter undercut analyst expectations to a deeper degree than in past quarters, prompting investors to seek more details.
But after reporting better-than-expected third-quarter results, Apple executives said they saw no effect from a weak U.S. economy and expected stronger Mac sales this quarter.
"It's a reaction to Apple's typical conservative guidance," Chris Whitmore of Deutsche Bank said of the share price drop.
"Investors are likely to focus on the rationale for the conservative guidance." Apple forecast fourth-quarter earnings of $1.00 per share and revenue of $7.8 billion, compared with average Wall Street targets of $1.25 per share -- out of a range of $1.13 to $1.41 -- on $8.3 billion in revenue, according to Reuters Estimates.
By comparison, in April, the company's forecast for third-quarter earnings per share was 11 cents behind Wall Street views at the time.
(Video: Jim Goldman discusses Apple's earnings and what it means to the stock)
Then on Monday, third-quarter net income came in 11 cents ahead of the average estimate at $1.07 billion, or $1.19 per share, up from $818.0 million, or 92 cents per share, a year ago.
Revenue advanced to $7.46 billion from $5.41 billion.
Analysts, on average, had expected a profit of $1.08 per share on revenue of $7.37 billion.
"Given the results that we just posted, it's hard to see any obvious impact of the economy," Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer told Reuters.
"We expect to sell more Macs in the September quarter than we did in June." Addressing investor concerns that Chief Executive Steve Jobs's health may have suffered in recent months, Oppenheimer said on a conference call that Jobs has no plans to leave Apple.
He said Jobs's health was a private matter.
Apple shipped nearly 2.5 million Macs in its third quarter, up 41 percent from a year ago and in line with analysts' expectations.
It sold more than 11 million iPods, up 12 percent from a year ago and ahead of forecasts of up to 10.5 million.
Sales of its iPhone mobile handsets were slightly above forecasts.
Apple sold 717,000 in the quarter, more than double the amount sold a year ago when the device was first launched.
Third-quarter gross margin was 34.8 percent, also ahead of forecasts of as much as 33.6 percent.
Apple forecast a fourth-quarter gross margin of 31.5 percent, and about 30 percent for 2009.
Apple this month rolled out a new iPhone, which connects to the Internet at faster speeds than its previous version, in more than 20 countries.
It plans to launch the new device in 20 more countries on Aug. 22, company executives said.
Jobs said in a statement the company believed its new iPhone was "a real winner" and that it was working on several other new products to launch in the coming months.
Shares of Apple have declined 16 percent this year, based on Monday's close, compared with a decline of 14 percent in the Standard & Poor's 500 Index.
- Horton Results Miss Estimates, Shares Drop
D.R. Horton, the No. 2 U.S. homebuilder, reported a much larger-than-expected quarterly loss on Friday, sending its shares down nearly 7 percent even though it also said orders increased.
- Dell Shares Smacked as Earnings, Sales Miss Forecasts
The computer maker reported financial results that were worse than last year and also fell short of Wall Street expectations, punishing the company's shares.
- Gap Reports Earnings in Line With Forecasts
Gap posted a profit that matched forecasts Thursday, though the retailer edged Wall Street's sales expectations.
- Horton Results Miss Estimates, Shares Drop
- Intuit Posts Narrower-Than-Expected Loss
Intuit, maker of QuickBooks accounting software, posted a narrower-than-expected quarterly loss on tight cost controls, though it issued a profit outlook below Wall Street projections.
- Intuit Posts Narrower-Than-Expected Loss
- Sears Posts Second Consecutive Quarterly Loss
- BJ's Wholesale Profit Falls, Hurt by Falling Food Prices
- Salesforce Profit Beats Forecasts, but Shares Fall
- Autodesk Shares Fall on Disappointing Outlook
- Home Depot Profit Beats; Says Markets Under Pressure
- Target Third Quarter Profit Up, Cautious on Fourth
- Weak US Housing Market Drags on Lowe's Profit
- JC Penney Profit Falls, but Shares Up on Forecast
- Disney Profit, Sales Top Forecasts; Shares Jump
- Nordstrom Earnings Miss Forecasts; Shares Take Hit
- Wal-Mart Holiday Forecast Light, Profit Beats
- Kohl's Profit Beats Street, But Outlook Falls Short
- Vivendi Profit Up More Than 5%, Keeps 2009 Goals
- Cost Cuts Help BT to Raise Full-Year Guidance
- Applied Materials Profit, Sales Top Wall Street Forecasts









