is scheduled to report results for its fiscal second quarter ended March 28 after the market closes on Monday. Here’s what you need to know.
EARNINGS FORECAST: Earnings of $2.16 a share is the consensus of analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters, compared with a split-adjusted $1.66 a year earlier. Apple performed a 7-for-1 stock split in June. The company hasn’t provided earnings guidance for the quarter but in January said it expects gross margin to range between 38.5% and 39.5%.
REVENUE FORECAST: Revenue of $56.1 billion is forecast, compared with $45.6 billion reported a year earlier. In January, Apple forecast quarterly revenue of $52 billion to $55 billion.
WHAT TO WATCH:
DIALING UP IPHONE: For all of Apple’s new businesses (Apple Watch, Apple Pay and a forthcoming Apple television service), the iPhone is still the straw that stirs the drink. Apple sold a staggering 74.5 million iPhones in the December quarter, helping to fuel the most profitable quarter ever for any publicly traded company. Now we’ll see what the iPhone can do for an encore. The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus delivered the big-screen smartphone experience that many consumers wanted from Apple. Analysts polled by Fortune Magazine forecast that Apple sold 56.8 million iPhones during the March quarter, 30% more than a year earlier.
CASH-BACK PLAN: It’s easy to forget that Apple didn’t begin returning cash to shareholders until 2012. Over the past three years, Apple has paid out $103 billion through share buybacks and dividends, part of a plan to return $130 billion in cash by the end of 2015. Apple has said it plans to update its plans on Monday, presumably increasing the size and duration of the program. A year ago, Apple increased the size of its cash return plans by 30% from an earlier target of $100 billion. As of the end of December, Apple’s cash pile totaled $178 billion.
WATCH FOR THIS: Apple’s first all-new hardware product in five years started shipping on Friday after accepting pre-orders for two weeks. Chief Executive Tim Cook could provide some details about initial Watch orders. So far, Apple’s supplies of the Watch are running short. According to Apple’s website, those looking to order a Watch now will have to wait until June to receive the device. Apple has already said it won’t break out sales of the Watch, afraid that doing so will give competitors useful information about the new product category.
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