Apple’s first quarter Mac sales may fall short of expectations, according to Piper Jaffray and NPD.
“We believe the buy side is currently looking for worldwide Mac units to be up 14 percent y/y (year over year) in the March quarter,” wrote Piper’s Gene Munster, in a note to clients that pushed the stock to its low of the day after its release. “We believe Apple could potentially miss its Mac number.”
Munster cites data from NPD that estimates Mac sales actually declined five percent last quarter over the same quarter a year ago. Mac will account for 15 percent of total revenue in the quarter, according to Piper.
Apple’s stock dropped 4 percent Tuesday, closing at its lows and posting its fifth-straight daily drop. Apple is down almost 10 percent from its all-time high earlier this month.
To be sure, Munster makes clear in the note that strong iPhone and iPad results will more than offset “Mac softness.” The analyst reiterated his “overweight” rating and $910 price target on the shares and expects the company to still beat consensus EPS and revenue estimates when it report next week.
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