Apple earnings preview: sweet or sour?

[MongiIG]

It’s a difficult one to call as Apple’s sales are expected to be bruised by rising interest rates, so it will be interesting to see what the outlook says.

 Jeremy Naylor | Analyst, London | Publication date: Thursday 04 May 2023 

The street expects second quarter (Q2) earnings per share at $1.43 compared to $1.52 the same quarter a year ago. Revenue is poised to reach $92.9 billion, almost $4.5bln less that last year. Analysts will be looking for any indication on how the group performed in China, as the country is now on the path to recovery.

Apple earnings expectations

Apple is scheduled to publish its earnings for its second fiscal quarter (Q2) after the market closes tonight.

Let's take a look at what's expected. The street expects earnings to come at $1.43 per share compared to $1.52 in the same quarter this time last year. Revenue is poised to reach $92.9 billion, almost $4.5 billion less than last year.

Analysts have been looking for any indication on how the group performed in China as the country is now on the path to recovery. Not only is China historically Apple's most volatile market, but the region now accounts for almost 1/5 of Apple's total revenues.

Share price chart

I want to show you the share price chart. We've seen gains recently from the lows that we had back in December last year. The stock is up 37.6% as at the highs yesterday, then came the drop late last night and Europe and the US market is still trying to assess the impact that the central banks' tightening policies have had on growth. And you can see this potentially has a possible downside for Apple.

But nonetheless, it's all about what's been happening with its products. Apple is massively innovative as we know and it is a market leader in so many areas of technology. It'd be interesting to see what the company comes out with after the bell tonight when we see what's going on under the covers in its fiscal second quarter.