Tag: analysts

Analysts are beginning to speak out on Apple’s newly introduced Mac mini. “Apple has hit a real nerve,” says independent analyst Tim Bajarin of Creative Strategies. “For the first time, people are going to have to seriously consider switching.” Gene Munster, an analyst at securities firm Piper Jaffray, said Apple’s move takes away the “big negative” customers have had about Apple: its higher prices. The Mac Mini “will have a dramatic effect on computer sales,” he says.

Analysts at Credit Suisse First Boston have trimmed their expected 2003 earnings for Apple to 25 cents from 30 cents a share, and maintain a “neutral” rating. “We expect a flattish growth year.” Warburg Dillon Read, who maintains a “buy” rating on Apple, said its second quarter earnings estimate is now 2 cents a share on revenues of $1.5 billion and its fiscal 2003 earnings per share estimate is for 9 cents. “We think the primary financial problem for Apple is the complete mismatch between expense and revenues over the last couple of years.

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.

Merrill Lynch analyst Steven Fortuna estimates that Apple will earn two cents a share when the company announces its fourth quarter financial results today, reports CBS Marketwatch. Fortuna expects revenue of US$1.42 billion, which would be in-line with the consensus of analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call. Rebecca Runkle of Morgan Stanley expects Apple’s earnings to come in slightly ahead of the consensus, at 3 cents a share, with revenue of $1.44 billion.