Sterne Agee makes last-minute estimate raise for Apple Q1
updated 09:25 am EST, Tue January 24, 2012
Official results due later today
Sterne Agee analyst Shaw Wu is raising estimates for Apple's fiscal first-quarter results, due to be announced later today. "Based on our updated checks, we are raising our estimates again and see room for upside, particularly EPS, based on a favorable product mix toward iPhone," he writes in a new memo. "We are now modeling 29.5 million iPhones (from 28 million) and leaving our Mac and iPad assumptions intact at 5.2 million and 13.5 million units, respectively. We are also assuming a higher gross margin of 41.2% (from 40.9%) due to a favorable product mix toward iPhone, as well as fairly benign component pricing."
Wu is also calling for higher revenue and EPS figures, bumped from $37.7 billion and $10 up to $38.7 billion and $10.34. Wall Street consensus is said to be $38.8 billion and $10.07, but Apple's own guidance has only been $37 billion and $9.30. Wu's gross margin forecast also differs considerably, as consensus is roughly 40.6 percent, barely above Apple guidance of 40.
The analyst has adjusted predictions for the full fiscal 2012 year to include $141.7 billion in revenue and $36.50 in EPS, up from figures of $133.2 billion and $35. The official Sterne Agee 12-month stock target for Apple has been boosted from $500 to $540.
