Apple To Report Q4 Earnings & FY00 Results Wednesday Afternoon

On Wednesday after the stock markets close Apple will report their 4th quarter earnings, which are expected to fall well below what investors had been hoping for. This quarter will mark the first time since 1997 that Apple has failed to beat forecasts handily.

Apple will provide live audio streaming of its fiscal year 2000 and fourth quarter results conference call via QuickTime on Wednesday, October 18 at 2 PM PDT.

Fred Anderson, Appleis CFO, warned shareholders on September 28th:

"Three factors contributed to our revenues and earnings coming in below expectations. First, we experienced lower than expected September sales due to a business slowdown in all geographies. Second, our Education sales, which normally peak during September, were lower than expected. And third, our Power Mac G4 Cube is off to a slower than expected start, resulting in revenues below expectations. We are currently re-evaluating our plans going forward, and will provide lower growth targets for next quarter and the next fiscal year when we announce our final results on October 18."

See the Apple Trader column, In Steve We Trust for an in-depth analysis of Mr. Andersonis three factors.

Apple said revenues will fall between $1.80 and $1.90 billion, with 4th Quarter earnings per diluted share, excluding investment gains, between $0.30 and $0.33, instead of the consensus estimate of $0.45.

Steve Jobs remained optimistic, "Weive clearly hit a speedbump, which will result in our earning, before investment gains, approximately $110 million rather than the expected $165 million for the September quarter. Though this slowdown is disappointing, we have so many wonderful new products and programs in the pipeline-including Mac OS X early next year-and remain positive about our future."

For full quotes on all the companies mentioned in this article, we have assembled this set of quotes at Yahoo! for your reference. For other stories regarding Appleis stock activity, visit our Apple Stock Watch Special Report.