Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Apple Tim Cook waves to people during the opening of the first Apple Inc. flagship store in Mumbai, India on April 18, 2023.
Imtiyaz Shaikh | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
Revenue is expected to decrease 4.4% from $97.28 billion in the same quarter a year ago.
Apple prepared investors for a down quarter in January. The company hasn’t provided formal guidance since 2020, but it gives analysts and investors a number of data points that can be used to roughly estimate its performance.
The information it provided earlier this year suggested that sales would drop for a second straight quarter by roughly 5%. Sales of iPads and Macs are expected to see sharp decreases — 12% and 25.4%, respectively — and iPhone sales also likely dropped.
Analysts polled by FactSet expect annual declines in all of Apple’s hardware product lines.
The tech giant’s report comes as the PC and smartphone markets are mired in one of the worst slumps in recent years. Electronics sales are down sharply after many consumers bought new PCs and phones during the pandemic and others are tightening their belts because of high inflation or recession worries.
In the first quarter, PC shipments decreased almost 30%, according to IDC, while smartphone shipments were off 14%.
Apple’s report wraps up earnings season for tech’s mega-cap companies, after Alphabet, Amazon, Meta and Microsoft all issued results last week. All four topped analyst estimates, though growth rates were still muted compared to prior years.
While Apple isn’t immune to the broader market slowdown, some analysts hope it will show strength and resiliency because it sells premium products and has loyal customers.
Refinitiv consensus estimates suggest Apple could guide back to growth. They expect 2% expansion in the third quarter. But others are concerned that revenue will keep falling, suggesting that demand for Apple’s products is eroding.
“The eventual outcome might be simply driven by F3Q guidance, where investors might be looking for assurance and visibility into limited downside despite a tough macro,” Samik Chatterjee, an analyst at JPMorgan, wrote in a note this week.
If Apple’s outlook suggests a year-over-year decline that’s less than 5%, Apple could still “triumph” on fundamentals, Chatterjee wrote.
Along with earnings, Apple is also likely to update investors on its capital return authorization. Analysts expect the iPhone maker to announce plans to spend as much as $90 billion on share repurchases and dividends.
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