Apple Expected to Report Best Financial Results Ever Today Amid Return to Growth

Apple is scheduled to report its earnings results for the first quarter of the 2017 fiscal year at 1:30 p.m. Pacific Time today, revealing how much money it made between September 25 and December 31 of last year. The holiday shopping season typically makes this quarter Apple's most lucrative of the year.

apple-earnings-q1-17
Apple benefitted from an extra week of sales in the quarter—14 versus the usual 13—due to a step it takes every 5 years or so to realign its September-ending fiscal quarter with the typical December-ending calendar quarter. Given the week fell between Christmas and the New Year, the seven extra days of sales could be significant.

Apple's official guidance calls for revenue of between $76 billion and $78 billion, which would be its highest revenue in a single quarter ever—topping its current record of $75.9 billion in the year-ago quarter. Apple also expects gross margin between 38% and 38.5%, compared to 40.1% in the year-ago quarter.

The average expectation among Wall Street analysts is that Apple will report revenue around the $77 billion mark, or roughly the midpoint of Apple's guidance. Herein is a list of some of those predictions, ordered from lowest to highest, based on compiled averages and research notes obtained by MacRumors:

• Mark Moskowitz of Barclays: $76.6 billion
• Timothy Arcuri of Cowen and Company: $76.68 billion
• Steven Milunovich of UBS: $76.8 billion
• Amit Daryanani of RBC Capital Markets: $76.9 billion
• Rod Hall of J.P. Morgan: $76.9 billion
• Bloomberg News compiled average: $77 billion
• Yahoo Finance compiled average: $77.38 billion
• Reuters compiled average: $77.4 billion
• Brian White of Drexel Hamilton: $77.61 billion
• Neil Cybart of Above Avalon: $80 billion

The record-breaking revenue would put an end to Apple's past three consecutive quarters of declining revenue on a year-over-year basis, which resulted in the company's first annual revenue decline since 2001. Prior to 2016, Apple had an impressive streak of 51 consecutive quarters of uninterrupted sales growth.

While iPhone sales dropped for the first time ever last year, the smartphone is still Apple's most important product by far—it accounted for 60% of the company's revenue last quarter. The consensus among analysts is that Apple will have sold around 76 million iPhones, up slightly from 74.8 million in the year-ago quarter.

Most analysts believe a higher ratio of customers purchased a Plus-sized iPhone this launch, with the dual-lens camera in particular enticing customers to choose the 5.5-inch model over the smaller iPhone 7.

Above Avalon analyst Neil Cybart estimates Apple sold 5.6 million Macs in the quarter, a 5% increase over the 5.3 million it sold in the year-ago period. The quarter was highlighted by the launch of long-awaited MacBook Pro with Touch Bar models in late October, which likely inflated sales.

iPad sales may remain on a longstanding downward trend based on units, but more expensive iPad Pro models have led to higher average selling prices and increased revenue for Apple's tablet business.
above-avalon-1q17
Cybart expects revenue from Apple's growing services category to rise to $6.7 billion, a 22% increase over the $6.1 billion it reported in the year-ago quarter. These earnings are derived from the App Store, iTunes, Apple Music, iCloud storage subscriptions, AppleCare, Apple Pay, licensing, and other services.

Investors will be looking closely at "Other Products" to measure the impact that Apple Watch Series 2 models and AirPods have on the category's revenue, which Cybart forecasts will rise 9% year-over-year. The category also includes sales of the Apple TV, Beats products, iPods, and many accessories.

Cybart expects Apple's guidance will point towards continued growth next quarter, suggesting the 2017 fiscal year will remain on an upward trend.

MacRumors will be providing live coverage of Apple's earnings results conference call with CEO Tim Cook and CFO Luca Maestri at 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time today.

Tags: AAPL, Earnings

Popular Stories

sonny iphone 16 pro colors

New iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro Colors Revealed Ahead of Apple Event

Friday September 6, 2024 5:01 am PDT by
Apple is "shaking up its color palette" for its iPhone 16 lineup this year, according to well-connected Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman. Early iPhone 16 Pro dummy models via Sonny Dickson According to Gurman, the iPhone 16 Pro models will come in a Gold Titanium to replace Blue Titanium, while the Black, White, and Natural Titanium options that debuted with the iPhone 15 Pro will remain...
iPhone 16 Pro Mock Article

How Much Will the iPhone 16 Cost?

Friday September 6, 2024 5:43 am PDT by
Apple's next-generation iPhone 16 series is expected to launch on September 20 and will compete in a quickly evolving smartphone market, and with some notable upgrades rumored, the new models could see price changes compared to previous years. Successive iPhone models always come with new features and hardware upgrades, but Apple typically does not increase the retail prices as a result....
its glowtime event youtube

Report Details Last-Minute Apple Event Rumors About New iPhones, Apple Watches, and AirPods

Friday September 6, 2024 4:40 am PDT by
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman today shared his final expectations for Apple's "It's Glowtime" event, providing some new tidbits and clarifications about the new devices set to be announced on Monday. iPhone 16 Pro Along with larger 6.3- and 6.9-inch display sizes, the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max will have bezels that are "now about a third slimmer" for a "sleeker overall look." The...
Generic iOS 18 Feature Real Mock

iOS 18 Coming Later This Month With These 8 New Features

Tuesday September 3, 2024 12:07 pm PDT by
iOS 18 has been in beta testing for nearly three months, and the software update will finally be released for all compatible iPhones soon. Apple should reveal iOS 18's exact release date during its September 9 event, with the most likely possibility being Monday, September 16. Below, we have highlighted eight key new features included in iOS 18. Note that Apple Intelligence is not coming...
apple watch series 9 display

'Noticeably Thinner' Apple Watch Series 10 to Eventually Get Sleep Apnea Detection

Friday September 6, 2024 4:42 am PDT by
The Apple Watch Series 10 will include a new sleep apnea detection feature, but it may not be available as soon as the new model launches, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Sleep apnea detection, which builds on the watch's existing sleep tracking, will attempt to determine if a wearer has sleep apnea and then suggest further testing with a medical professional. Gurman had expressed...
iPhone 16 Side 2 Feature

iPhone 16 Pro Rumored to Break This 7-Year Streak at Apple

Friday September 6, 2024 7:41 am PDT by
The upcoming iPhone 16 Pro might break a seven-year streak at Apple. Taiwanese research firm TrendForce today reported that the iPhone 16 Pro will start at $1,099 in the U.S. with 256GB of storage, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro starts at $999 with 128GB of storage. If this information is accurate, it means that the iPhone 16 Pro will cost more for customers who otherwise would have opted for a...

Top Rated Comments

skippermonkey Avatar
99 months ago
Terrible news. It will just reinforce Cook's strategy and result in fewer computer products that Apple fans actually want to buy. I just want a new Mac Pro. Is that too much to ask of the richest company in the world? Windows here I come... (sadly)
Score: 43 Votes (Like | Disagree)
macbookhair Avatar
99 months ago
If you're squeezing every last ounce of profit out of a company, you can see great increases. However, the long term implications of doing so, especially when this is at the expense of product innovation and service quality, are decline and eventual financial difficulties as customer goodwill is lost and the company falls behind the market.

So even if the results are good, it's not necessarily evidence that Apple is going to be OK in the long term. Especially if they are still heavily reliant on the iPhone for much of that revenue. If we were seeing world-beating products and innovation from Apple. it would be different, but we haven't been.
Score: 39 Votes (Like | Disagree)
dumastudetto Avatar
99 months ago
Biggest ever earnings? That cannot be right. I've been told by many on here that Tim Cook is doing a terrible job and should be fired. #confused
Score: 35 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jscooper22 Avatar
99 months ago
Good, take some of the money and build me a real pro machine for rendering and network services. Thanks.
Score: 24 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Chicane-UK Avatar
99 months ago
.
Will be a hoot watching the sad (watchbands, TC must be fired, Apple is doomed, emoji, margins, Apple is greedy, no "pro" machines, wah...where's my bottle and soft blankie) trying to explain the excellent results away.

Must be Apple withholding inventory again to stimulate demand and numbers, yeah, that's it... always a crowd pleaser for those unable to think rationally.
Why does everything have to be so black and white for some people? There's plenty of people who are pissed with Apples decision to basically abandon, or majorly neglect their desktop lineup for the sake of products which clearly net them higher margins such as iPhones, etc. Sure, they may be making more money. Great. That doesn't make me any less disappointed with their lineup of desktops. In fact it makes me even more disappointed that with so much wealth and resources behind them, that they're happy to just abandon the product line and customer base that helped get them where they are.

But I guess I best tow the line. Profits are good. Everything else is irrelevent.
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
krazzix Avatar
99 months ago
Apple is DOOMED.

Oh no wait... Big earnings are a good thing.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)