Apple was less than exuberant in its guidance for the next quarter. Oppenheimer expects gross margins to decline to 34 percent. Revenues would be between $11.3 billion and $11.6 billion, and earnings per share would be between $1.70 and $1.78, he added.
"Guidance remains below expectations, but remember, Apple tends to be conservative," said Blin. "Wall Street was looking for fiscal fourth-quarter earnings of $1.91 on $11.45 billion in sales."
In general, analysts were disappointed at Apple's conservative guidance. However, investors must remember that Apple uses guidance as one of its tools of war -- its usual practice is to set expectations low and then exceed them. Keeping a low profile keeps it from shocking investors if demand falls off, and it also lets Apple beat street forecasts regularly, which is good for its image.
Apple has an opportunity to work the enterprise market, Gartner's Kitagawa said. "There is demand from users for the Mac even though IT departments don't want to support them," she pointed out. "But Apple seems to be careless about this market."" News By Sphoom Blogspot Dot Com"
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