Apple is expected to report first-quarter earnings today of about US$10.7 million, or 3 cents a share, on revenue of nearly $1.5 billion. Merrill Lynch analyst Michael Hillmeyer, who reinitiated coverage of Apple just before Macworld Expo with a “sell” rating on its stock, expects the company to miss consensus estimates and report earnings of 2 cents a share on revenue of $1.45 billion, reports CBS Marketwatch. “In our view, the new-product pipeline looks skimpy,” Hillmeyer said. “[And] we don’t think their retail store strategy will work.” However, Kimberly Alexy of Prudential Financial said her research shows Apple on track to deliver “modest” quarter-over-quarter growth, mostly due to sales in those same retail stores. Apple will hold a conference call discussing the results at 5:00 PM ET, which will also be webcast. MacMinute will post the results as they are announced.