High Expectations for Apple Earnings

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By Trey Thoelcke Published
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The earnings of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) may be the most important of the season. It is not only the largest company by market cap, its growth has stayed phenomenal for a large company. And, with the number of products it sells to businesses and consumers, it is something of a proxy for the overall economy, particularly in the United States.

Earnings from AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) and Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) offered some glimpse into iPhone 5 sales, although each said it ran out of supply and could have sold many more units in September. Apple management said that iPad sales reached 100 million this month. The overall tablet sector has shown no sign of a slowdown. Mac sales could be a problem as the overall personal computer market is in trouble, but the Mac is an increasingly smaller part of the company’s total sales.

The financial performance will be another test of how CEO Tim Cook is doing more than a year after the death of Steve Jobs, although it is assumed the many new products were in the pipeline before his death and therefore bear his fingerprints.

The other information that Wall St. will watch is guidance. Apple is usually conservative in this respect, but the critical holiday season is about to begin, and the expectations for Apple’s success with both a new iPhone and iPad in the field are unbelievably high.

Douglas A. McIntyre

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About the Author Trey Thoelcke →

Trey has been an editor and author at 24/7 Wall St. for more than a decade, where he has published thousands of articles analyzing corporate earnings, dividend stocks, short interest, insider buying, private equity, and market trends. His comprehensive coverage spans the full spectrum of financial markets, from blue-chip stalwarts to emerging growth companies.

Beyond 24/7 Wall St., Trey has created and edited financial content for Benzinga and AOL's BloggingStocks, contributing additional hundreds of articles to the investment community. He previously oversaw the 24/7 Climate Insights site, managing editorial operations and content strategy, and currently oversees and creates content for My Investing News.

Trey's editorial expertise extends across multiple publishing environments. He served as production editor at Dearborn Financial Publishing and development editor at Kaplan, where he helped shape financial education materials. Earlier in his career, he worked as a writer-producer at SVE. His freelance editing portfolio includes work for prestigious clients such as Sage Publications, Rand McNally, the Institute for Supply Management, the American Library Association, Eggplant Literary Productions, and Spiegel.

Outside of financial journalism, Trey writes fiction and has been an active member of the writing community for years, overseeing a long-running critique group and moderating workshop sessions at regional conventions. He lives with his family in an old house in the Midwest.

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