Apple Forecasted to Report Record Holiday Quarter Amid Concerns of Slowing iPhone Sales

Apple will announce its first quarter earnings tomorrow for the 2016 fiscal year, a three-month period that ended December 31, 2015. Financial analysts predict Apple's quarterly revenue will range between $74.6 billion and $82.4 billion, but some market watchers are unsure if Apple will top the record 74.5 million iPhones it sold in the year-ago quarter, due to perceived lower iPhone 6s sales.

iPhone 6s sales concerns might be more evident in Q2 2016, however, as Apple's newest products and services, including the Apple Watch, Apple Music and the new Apple TV, coupled with the busy holiday shopping season, fuel projections that Apple will again report the most profitable holiday quarter in not only the iPhone maker's nearly 40-year history, but of any company ever.

Apple's guidance is between $75.5 billion and $77.5 billion in quarterly revenue, while the consensus among professional analysts is around $76.5 billion.

Q1-2016-Apple-Estimates
Fortune has compiled a list of predictions from both amateur and professional analysts, along with Apple's guidance in orange.

Apple-Q1-2016-Estimates
Apple has never experienced a year-over-year decline in iPhone sales, so the next few quarterly earnings results will be interesting to follow. MacRumors will be providing live coverage of Apple's Q1 2016 earnings conference call with CEO Tim Cook and CFO Luca Maestri on Tuesday at around 2:00 p.m. Pacific (5:00 p.m. Eastern). The earnings report will be released around 1:30 p.m. Pacific (4:30 p.m. Eastern).

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Top Rated Comments

spiderman0616 Avatar
132 months ago
No matter what Apple says tomorrow, good or bad, Wall Street and the tech media are out for blood. It will be spun as negative as possible. If iPhones grow again, it will not be by enough units. If they don't grow, it will be doom and gloom for the company in general. They are in a can't win situation when it comes to earnings announcements.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
naeS1Sean Avatar
132 months ago
Sometimes I wish iPhone sales would slow down. Maybe it would bring Apple back to earth and maybe they would give us better products.

Imagine what phones and technology would be like if money and greed weren't in the picture. I'm dreaming, I know. Just a thought.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
C64 Avatar
132 months ago
Apple's guidance is between $75.5 billion and $77.5 billion in quarterly revenue, while the consensus among professional analysts is around $76.5 billion.
Only professionals could come to that consensus.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
musika Avatar
132 months ago
When will we stop obsessing over impossibly endless and unsustainable growth and start to appreciate good, stable, comfortable, and long-lasting business?
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
rdlink Avatar
132 months ago
No matter what happens I can only guarantee one thing: I will have less equity tomorrow at the close of trading than I did at open.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
rdlink Avatar
132 months ago
...Imagine what phones and technology would be like if money and greed weren't in the picture. I'm dreaming, I know. Just a thought.
I don't have to imagine. If "money and greed" weren't in the picture the state of the art "smartphone" would look like this:

Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)