Remember kids, tomorrow Apple is set to release its Q2 earnings after market close. While their earnings should be impressive and likely beat the market expectations of $1.11 per share, it’s the Q3 guidance people will really be focused on. As we’ve seen in the past an overly conservative outlook can destroy investor confidence in a hurry (see Apples Q2 outlook as reported with their Q1 earnings), almost as much as missing a quarters projected EPS.
With the economy in a slow down Apple’s pricey computers and accessories may not be as likely to move, which is a point thats been raised over and over by analysts. It should be noted that some believe that Apple’s high prices make it recession proof, purely from the standpoint that they can drop the price per computer by $300 and still make a handsome profit. Apple dropping their prices… Yeah, that’s likely to happen (please pay attention to the dripping sarcasm there).
However, the impending launch of the 3G iPhone coupled with the expanding availability of the iPhone in other countries should do nicely for offsetting any slow down in computer sales. Although since investors tend to act like a bunch of girls, they may see a decrease in computer sales as bad news and run scared.
Let’s try and focus on Apple as a whole, not just their computer division… Mm’kay? After all, they did drop the Computers from the name, remember?
In the interest of full disclosure, I own shares in Apple Inc. so I might be biased, yeah, maybe a little.
p.s. Remind me to sell when Apple hits $200