Posted October 28, 2012 16:32
This past week Apple (AAPL) reported their 3rd quarter earnings. The results were basically in-line along with the expected conservative guidance for Q4. Apple said that the reduction in the amount of iPhone and iPad units sold was due to the rumors of future generations being released during September and October. All of the hype of future generation devices led to a disappointing iPad number, which came in a few million short of the analyst’s estimates. The iPhone number came in at around 27 million units sold. Their guidance was for $11.75 EPS for fiscal Q4 and revenue of about $52 Billion.
Looking forward, if I were an Apple investor I would be really excited for the holiday season. I feel that the iPad Mini sales will be very robust along with the iPhone 5 and the multiple generation iPads. If you look at average y/y growth for Apple, many expect that Apple will be able to beat the Q4 number when they release it in January, unless there is a unforeseen incident regarding supply constraints or manufacturing issues. With Apple now trading at around $600 there is plenty of upside still available in this stock.
