Apple will report earnings after the market close on Monday January 27. My battle plan has changed after Samsung just provided weak guidance.
Fourth quarter results for Samsung were mostly in line. Earnings came at 8.3 trillion won and revenues came at 59.7 trillion won. In Seoul South Korea, Samsung shares traded up 1.2%. Of concern is that for 2014 Samsung expects competition to intensify and sees weaker demand for mobile devices in the current quarter.
The increased competition Samsung sees is mostly coming from Apple and Lenovo (LNVGF). My read of Samsung report is that it is likely good for Apple in the very short-term but bad for Apple in the medium-term.
For Apple, average Q1 analysts’ estimate is $14.09; the low estimate is $13.49 and the high is $15.24. For revenue, the average analysts’ estimate for revenue is $57.46 billion; the low estimate is $55.93 billion and the high estimate is $59.88 billion.
More than the earnings, the three critical numbers to look for are number of iPhone sales, gross margins, and any indication of China Mobile iPhone sales.
iPhone sales numbers are important because even though Apple sells many products, iPhones account for about three quarters of profits. Estimates of iPhone sales hover around 55 million units. Regarding China Mobile, if my information from sources in China is correct, the street will be disappointed. Apple may simply choose not to divulge any data about China Mobile sales...Read more at Forbes
