Apple has announced today that they will release their fiscal Q4 report on October 21, which may indicate how the current economic downturn has impacted the company.
This week Apple had seen shares plummet a massive 18% only to be followed by major analyst downgrades, indicating that the struggling economy and weak consumer demand may prove to be to much of a storm for even Apple to weather. Despite the nearly $20 billion lost in market cap, the stock has since risen and a few analysts have maintained a buy rating. Yet many have made claims that Apple is unlikely to repeat third quarter record figures with $7.46 billion profits, breaking Wall Street estimates.
ThinkEquity analyst Vijay Rakesh began speculation that Apple will not be seeing repeat success, noting that “low-cost” notebooks may have hindered Apple’s back-to-school sales which are on average priced higher than most PCs.
BMO analyst Keith Bachman noted that, “the weak economy has started to take a toll on Apple’s system business,” as the firm cut earnings estimates from $8.03 billion to $7.88 billion. BMO is just one of a slew of major investment houses that have trimmed expectations and downgraded apple shares. RBC Capital Markets analyst, Mike Abramsky, has cut the stock from $200 down to $140, which had spurred several others to follow suit.
Speculation of what may be expected from Apple’s fiscal fourth quarter report have run rampant, yet we will have to wait until the official release date of October 21 to see the true impact. While Apple may certainly not be immune to economic slowdown, new products offered at aggressive prices added to a good holiday shopping season may lead to an eventual upswing.
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