Analysts predict record quarter for Apple as iPhone loyalty drives confidence
Wall Street estimates that Apple will continue its stellar performance in this evening’s quarterly results, predicting revenue to hit $118bn in the build-up to Christmas.
If analysts are correct, this would mean a higher revenue for Apple than in any previous quarter.
A significant amount of revenue is expected to come from the iPhone, which is reportedly selling well.
Just yesterday, iPhone was named the top selling smartphone in China, knocking competitors like Huawei from the prime spot.
Tom Johnson, Global Chief Digital Officer, at Mindshare Worldwide, told Morning Wire: “Apple is able to continue its stellar growth because it is not as exposed the growth head and tail winds that have been the downfall of Netflix recently, which has struggled to keep up its subscriber growth in a streaming market that is becoming saturated.”
“As a mixed business model between subscription services and hardware – albeit massively weighted towards hardware – demand for its flagship product remains high as in its class, it has little competition. Apple consumers are famously devoted, so are they ever likely not to buy the latest model iPhone?”
Johnson does note that Apple have been cautious on guidance due to supply chain issues that have plagued the tech space.
Thomas Husson, VP principal analyst at research firm Forrester, echoed this point, and said: “From a business perspective, this should be a blockbuster quarter since strong consumer demand is likely to have met Apple’s new range of leading products during the holiday season while the services performance will continue to be very robust.”
“The main question is how well Apple has dealt with manufacturing disruption, component shortages and delivery issues. The answer to this question will be a good indicator on how quickly Apple can accelerate its move to adjacent markets and product launches in the coming quarters. Even if more impacted than expected, the successful shift to services and recurring revenues should compensate for a lower performance on specific product ranges.
“The fact that Apple recently reached the $3 trillion market capitalisation mark is a clear sign that the financial community trusts Apple’s ability to overperform other firms.”
Despite the macro-economic condition and growing antitrust regulation, it appears investors continue to trust Apple’s ability to develop its core business while innovating new business lines shaping the future of consumer experiences.
Apple’s results are due to be released 9pm GMT.