Apple (AAPL) reported much anticipated earnings after the market close. Earnings were a big miss. There is no value to be added by regurgitating the numbers as Connie Guglielmo has already done an excellent job of reporting the details in her piece Apple Sales Miss Estimates, Shares Fall As iPhone Pause Begins.
As I carefully studied Apple’s earnings release and information provided on the conference call, I was reminded of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, “Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.”
This is Apple’s second earnings miss under Tim Cook. After the second miss, the scrutiny of Tim Cook’s leadership inevitably comes into play. The big question is, “Are Steve Jobs’ shoes too big to fill?”
Steve Jobs was a master at managing expectations. He mastered the art of under promising and over delivering. Steve Jobs perfected the art of managing expectations by not giving good guidance regarding earnings.
This earnings report shows that Tim Cook is not in the same league as Steve Jobs.
Apple stock is covered by 42 analysts. Yesterday in Apple Set For Explosive Move, I stated that the low estimate for earnings for the past quarter is $9.45 and the high estimate for the past quarter is $12.51; the low estimate for revenues is $34.54 billion and the high estimate is $41.73 billion. Not even a single analyst out of 42 got it right. Apple reported $9.32 a share…Read more at Forbes
