Earnings preview: Wall Street expects flat March quarter, awaiting new products in late 2014

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Comments

  • Reply 21 of 67
    shahhet2shahhet2 Posts: 149member

    I don't want to argue with anyone who doesn't understands how valuations are done.

    Go ahead and read couple of times What I wrote first, then come back to me again.

    It's revenue growth that counts. Revenue growth ultimately translates into more earnings.

    There is reason why Amazon has such a high valuations even with close to zero earnings.

    That's Why they are called analysts and earnings millions for their analysis.

    btw, Google's revenue doesn't included Motorola or Nest revenue in their report.

    This is the exact reason why Google/Facebook etc are buying more companies.

    When they think that they have saturated particular market, they need to look into new market for growth and that is What companies with money is doing.

    Quote:
    Originally Posted by sog35 View Post

     

     

    First off revenue growth does not mean jack sheet if you are not increasing profit.

     

    Second, don't take the BS non-GAAP Google numbers.  GAAP is the standard for financial reporting and it blows my mind that Wall Street allows Google to use their own reporting standards.  Google's non-GAAP reporting does not take into account stock compensation and losses from discountinued operations (aka Motorola) how convient.  Lets look at GAAP Earnings per share growth.

     

    Google

    Q1 2013 - $4.97 earnings per share

    Q1 2014 - $5.04 earnings per share

    1.4% earnings growth

     

    Apple

    Q1 2013 (Dec Qtr) - $13.81 earnings per share

    Q1 2014 (Dec Qtr) - $14.50 earnings per share

    5.0% earnings growth

     

    Now tell me which company is growing earnings?

     

    Google is BUYING revenue with acquisitions but their earnings is stalling.


  • Reply 22 of 67
    jkichlinejkichline Posts: 1,369member

    I guess I have a different level of acceptable risk and expectation of future returns than "big investment houses". Then again, that's why I made a mint on Apple by investing pre-iPhone and why I'm a serial entrepreneur and not a boring banker.

  • Reply 23 of 67
    jkichlinejkichline Posts: 1,369member

    Good point, although I think that number should be higher but I agree they are looking a little ahead.

  • Reply 24 of 67
    For an operations guy, Tim Cook's product update/launch timetable is totally puzzling.

    They're all seemingly bunched in the 4th quarter of the calendar year for 2014 too. The problem is, consumer wallets have already seen nine months go by. Moreover, the global supply chain is frantically working its b*** off for everyone for the holiday season, increasing the chances of delays and stock-outs.

    I could understand this happening in a transition year -- 2013 -- as Cook and his new team were being put in place and settling in, but it would have been nice to see some type of normalcy return in 2014.

    Not impressed. Hopefully, 2015. :\


    First: By my calculations, the year 2014 is less than 1/3 along -- yet many, like you, assume that there will be no new products -- seems a bit illogical.

    Second: The 2014 WWDC Keynote will occur on June 2 (approximately mid-year) -- this. historically, is the venue for announcing new and updated products -- and sometimes new categories,

    Third: Often Apple's products are dependent on new or leading-edge technology being available in large volumes (TouchID, 64-bit A7, Mac Pro, Thunderbolt 2, etc.). Sometimes, Apple's announce/release schedule is dependent upon other companies. Since Apple does not like to talk about products until/unless they know they can deliver the goods -- we can usually rely on a late (last-minute) announce/pre-order -- with a ramped up delivery in 2-6 months.  This, opposed to the competition who pre-announces everything -- even though delivery may be years away (or never).

    Fourth: Apple has been making some interesting investments in technology:  acquisitions;   plant and equipment;  cloud/server farms;   personnel;  star-power talent (Burberry CEO Angela Ahrendts, former Yves St Laurent CEO Paul Deneve).  I suspect that Apple will use these investments to create new categories/products and bring a new level of desirable, affordable, quality, practical technology to the market.


    In other words: IMO, 2014 -- you ain't seen nothin' yet!
  • Reply 25 of 67
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Dick Applebaum View Post





    First: By my calculations, the year 2014 is less than 1/3 along -- yet many, like you, assume that there will be no new products -- seems a bit illogical.



    Second: The 2014 WWDC Keynote will occur on June 2 (approximately mid-year) -- this. historically, is the venue for announcing new and updated products -- and sometimes new categories,



    Third: Often Apple's products are dependent on new or leading-edge technology being available in large volumes (TouchID, 64-bit A7, Mac Pro, Thunderbolt 2, etc.). Sometimes, Apple's announce/release schedule is dependent upon other companies. Since Apple does not like to talk about products until/unless they know they can deliver the goods -- we can usually rely on a late (last-minute) announce/per-order -- with a ramped up delivery in 2-6 months.  This, opposed to the competition who pre-announces everything -- even though delivery may be years away (or never).



    Fourth: Apple has been making some interesting investments in technology:  acquisitions;   plant and equipment;  cloud/server farms;   personnel;  star-power talent (Burberry CEO Angela Ahrendts, former Yves St Laurent CEO Paul Deneve).  I suspect that Apple will use these investments to create new categories/products and bring a new level of desirable, affordable, quality, practical technology to the market.





    In other words: IMO, 2014 -- you ain't seen nothin' yet!

     

    I don't think Anan said there wouldn't be anything in 2014.

     

    What was said is that a few of us think that this boom bust cycle of announcing everything in the 4th/1st fiscal quarters is not the right way to go.

  • Reply 26 of 67
    jungmarkjungmark Posts: 6,927member
    [SIZE=14px]Except for Apple fans like us who have an idea of what might be on tap and when (since we avidly follow and speculate on all this stuff), most people don't wait around, keeping hundreds of dollars in reserve, expecting some ephemeral/rumored product or update to arrive from 'Apple'. [/SIZE]

    [SIZE=14px]Just ask around.[/SIZE]

    I guess I don't understand why the Dec qtr is the largest qtr by volume and $$$ if only Apple fans buy then. I never knew there were so many Apple fans and those same people upgrade everything every year. /s
  • Reply 27 of 67
    First: By my calculations, the year 2014 is less than 1/3 along -- yet many, like you, assume that there will be no new products -- seems a bit illogical.

    Second: The 2014 WWDC Keynote will occur on June 2 (approximately mid-year) -- this. historically, is the venue for announcing new and updated products -- and sometimes new categories,

    Third: Often Apple's products are dependent on new or leading-edge technology being available in large volumes (TouchID, 64-bit A7, Mac Pro, Thunderbolt 2, etc.). Sometimes, Apple's announce/release schedule is dependent upon other companies. Since Apple does not like to talk about products until/unless they know they can deliver the goods -- we can usually rely on a late (last-minute) announce/per-order -- with a ramped up delivery in 2-6 months.  This, opposed to the competition who pre-announces everything -- even though delivery may be years away (or never).

    Fourth: Apple has been making some interesting investments in technology:  acquisitions;   plant and equipment;  cloud/server farms;   personnel;  star-power talent (Burberry CEO Angela Ahrendts, former Yves St Laurent CEO Paul Deneve).  I suspect that Apple will use these investments to create new categories/products and bring a new level of desirable, affordable, quality, practical technology to the market.



    In other words: IMO, 2014 -- you ain't seen nothin' yet!

    I don't think Anan said there wouldn't be anything in 2014.

    What was said is that a few of us think that this boom bust cycle of announcing everything in the 4th/1st fiscal quarters is not the right way to go.

    In which quarter is June?  September?  October?
  • Reply 28 of 67
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Dick Applebaum View Post





    In which quarter is June?  September?  October?

     

    I said September and October.

     

    Is this not when the products that constitute 90% of Apple's revenue are announced. Within a one month span.

  • Reply 29 of 67
    shahhet2shahhet2 Posts: 149member
    Quote:
    "

    And Google's monopoly in search is no longer relevant:

    Facebook has its own search feature without Google

    Twitter has its own search feature

    Apple App store also.

    And Yahoo is trying to be the default search on iOS devices. 

     

    The last one alone could take away 20% of Google's revenues."


    See this is where the exact problem is :)

    You think this, this, this will happen and that's why X stock will go down.

    This,this and this new product will come and Y stock will go up.

     

    If Apple shows new stream of revenue, they will have growth and stock will go up.

    If Google gets suffocated in their growth, their stock will go down, but none of those two have  happened until this very latest Quarter of 2014. (As Well in last 1.5 years)

     

    Analyst don't work that way, They look at hard facts. When it happens, stock may respond. 

  • Reply 30 of 67
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Dick Applebaum View Post



    In which quarter is June?  September?  October?

    I am guessing that something announced in June will likely not be ready to ship until Sept (or thereabouts).

  • Reply 31 of 67
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by jungmark View Post



    I guess I don't understand why the Dec qtr is the largest qtr by volume and $$$ if only Apple fans buy then. I never knew there were so many Apple fans and those same people upgrade everything every year. /s

    Cut the "/s", and figure out basic arithmetic.

     

    "Largest quarter by volume" ? 100%.

     

    "Largest" ? It couldn't have been ever larger if spaced better...

  • Reply 32 of 67
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    Um and Munster? Who cares what these numbskulls say?

    What does Horace Dediu say?
  • Reply 33 of 67
    In which quarter is June?  September?  October?

    I said September and October.

    Is this not when the products that constitute 90% of Apple's revenue are announced. Within a one month span.

    So, you don't think that there will be any iPhone or iPad announcements between June 2 (WWDC) and September?
  • Reply 34 of 67
    jungmark wrote: »
    [SIZE=14px]Except for Apple fans like us who have an idea of what might be on tap and when (since we avidly follow and speculate on all this stuff), most people don't wait around, keeping hundreds of dollars in reserve, expecting some ephemeral/rumored product or update to arrive from 'Apple'. [/SIZE]

    [SIZE=14px]Just ask around.[/SIZE]

    I guess I don't understand why the Dec qtr is the largest qtr by volume and $$$ if only Apple fans buy then. I never knew there were so many Apple fans and those same people upgrade everything every year. /s

    Like it or not, individuals ar the only buyers of Apple products. More and more enterprises (governments, large business, education, health, etc.) are buying (or underwriting BYOD) iPhones and iPads for business use. Tim said recently that over 95% of the Fortune 100 were evaluating or buying iPads. Normally, enterprise sales mean that large purchases are subject to the enterprises' budget cycle.

    When I worked for IBM, we were very aware of these budget cycles and planned our sell/install efforts around them. I suspect that enterprises' budget cycles will increasingly skew iPad and iPhone purchases.
  • Reply 35 of 67
    jungmarkjungmark Posts: 6,927member
    Cut the "/s", and figure out basic arithmetic.

    "Largest quarter by volume" ? 100%.

    "Largest" ? It couldn't have been ever larger if spaced better...

    What is this 100%? I don't even know what you're trying to say in your second comment.
  • Reply 36 of 67
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Dick Applebaum View Post





    So, you don't think that there will be any iPhone or iPad announcements between June 2 (WWDC) and September?

     

    I'll answer that with a question:

    Do you think that Apple will release any iPhone or iPads between June 2 and September? 

  • Reply 37 of 67
    This may be a bit off-topic for this thread, but Apple's business may be evolving into an [B]XaaS[/B] business -- as are many other tech businesses.

    Consider The sales of iTunes Software and Services:

    [QUOTE]On a yearly basis iTunes/Software/Services is nearly half of Google’s core business and growing slightly faster.

    The iTunes “empire” of content and services would be ranked as number 130 in the Fortune 500 ranking of companies (slightly below Alcoa and above Eli Lilly).[/QUOTE]

    [IMG ALT=""]http://forums.appleinsider.com/content/type/61/id/42101/width/500/height/1000[/IMG]

    [IMG ALT=""]http://forums.appleinsider.com/content/type/61/id/42099/width/500/height/1000[/IMG]

    http://www.asymco.com/2014/02/10/fortune-130/


    To some extent, Apple already offers [B]XaaS[/B] with iCloud Apps and storage, iTunes Match, Streaming, etc.

    What if Apple were to offer [B]SHaaS[/B], (SHopping as a Service) using iTunes to browse/shop/buy/pay for services, general merchandise and hard goods?

    Some US carriers are offering a kind of "upgrade insurance" with their iPhone subsidies -- where for a nominal monthly fee you can upgrade more frequently without additional fees.

    What if Apple were to offer [B]HWaaS[/B] (HardWare as a Service) -- where you buy an iPhone or iPad (and, possibly Macs) for a low-monthly charge (billed and financed through iTunes) which includes the cell/WiFi/etc. carrier services plan -- and the ability upgrade to new models as they became available?

    Finally, with Apple wearables, likely, coming this year or next -- it is conceivable that most Apple customers will have BTLE/WiFi/Cell/GPS radios on their person at all times. In effect, everybody could become an iBeacon -- continuously generating location information useful for navigation, tracking and marketing.

    What if Apple were to [B][I][COLOR=blue]pay its customers[/COLOR][/I][/B] (through iTunes credits) to anonymously (or identifiably) gather this data for purposes of marketing and/or customized personal services?
  • Reply 38 of 67
    So, you don't think that there will be any iPhone or iPad announcements between June 2 (WWDC) and September?

    I'll answer that with a question:
    Do you think that Apple will release any iPhone or iPads between June 2 and September? 

    Yes!
  • Reply 39 of 67
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Dick Applebaum View Post





    Yes!

     

    Interesting. Considering that Apple hasn't done that in quite a while.

  • Reply 40 of 67
    drewys808drewys808 Posts: 549member

    Originally Posted by shahhet2 View Post

    Analyst don't work that way, They look at hard facts. When it happens, stock may respond. 




    Originally Posted by shahhet2 View Post

    That's Why they are called analysts and earnings millions for their analysis.

    I don't disagree that analysts look at facts but for every analyst that recommends a "buy" there are as many that recommend a sell/hold. That tells me that one analyst happens to be right and one happens to be wrong. Maybe that's why the average engineer makes more than the average analyst?

     

    Or are you advising us to just listen to the analysts who earn millions and to ignore the others?

    Or should we just listen to the analysts that are right all the time? /s

     

    Hmmm...I don't hear you shouting support for the analyst that has a $745 target on aapl.

     

    edit: I don't think any of us disagree that analysts impact the market, but you seem to only be cherry-picking reasons why we should be accepting this analysts analysis.

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