What to expect Tuesday from Apple's March guidance

Four versions of Apple’s fiscal Q2 2019 consensus, freshly gathered Friday morning.

Thanks to Tim Cook’s Jan. 2 warning, December quarter’s results are largely baked in. Next Tuesday, all eyes will be on Apple’s guidance for March.

Click to enlarge.

Guide to the numbers:

• Visible Alpha: Gathered by a consortium of banks for their use and for their clients.
• Estimize: Crowd-sourced site that invites anonymous estimates.
• Thomson Reuters: Average used by most public sites (e.g. Yahoo Finance).
• Apple 3.0: This site’s mix of pros and independents has out-performed Thomson. Reuters for at least 8 quarters in a row. Plus, it names names (see Best and Worst).

Bottom line: The consensus among consensuses is that March quarter revenue guidance will be somewhere between $59 billion and $63 billion, which is to say up or down 3% from the same quarter last year.

We’ll find out whose consensus was closest to the mark when Apple offers its Q1 results and Q2 guidance after the markets close Tuesday, Jan. 29. I’ll be monitoring the earnings call with analysts and you can too. Click here for instructions.