Piper Jaffray weighs in on March quarter, future
updated 10:05 am EDT, Mon April 11, 2005
Analyst on March quarter
Just ahead of Apple's March quarter results on Wednesday, financial firm Piper Jaffray says, "we expect slight upside to Street estimates of $0.24 on $3.17b. More importantly, based on continued strong demand being met by, what we expect will be more consistent supply, we believe June quarter guidance will be above Street consensus ($0.23 on $3.20b)." Senior Research Analyst Gene Munster says significant focus has been placed on iPod units for the quarter, and "we believe some Street unit estimates have become over-aggressive due to activities seen from component suppliers in the quarter." Munster also says that "while clearly a critical piece of the overall picture," due to iPod shuffle supply inconsistencies in the quarter, "we believe it is prudent to focus on overall March quarter results and June guidance."
Demand for Apple's key products
"Our checks with 20 Apple specialist VARs give us confidence that demand for Apple's key products," the firm says, referring to iMac, Powerbook, Mac mini, and various versions of the iPod. "This was the most positive we have heard the channel in the last 3 quarters." Any complaints were" primarily related to lack of supply of Mac mini and iPod shuffle and weak sales of Power Mac."
The firm says Apple had only 1 month in the March quarter "in which iPod shuffle supply was material and some Street
shuffle estimates may not incorporate these supply shortages in the 2 months following the early January release of the product."
iPod is not the only "growth avenue," "greater scope of awareness"
"Apple's domination in digital music is a critical piece to the story, but we do not believe that iPod is the only
potential growth avenue for the company." Indirectly, the firm expects the iPod "to be a foundation for growth in other parts of Apple's business, and we expect that by the end of CY05 more than 30 million iPods will have shipped, providing Apple with a
greater scope of awareness for various products."
Piper Jaffray maintains an 'outperform' rating on AAPL.
