Apple will come in at slightly higher than consensus revenues at US$6.99B, according to Bernstein Research analyst Toni Sacconaghi who provided his estimates on Friday.
In addition, Mr. Sacconaghi put his estimated earnings per share (EPS) at US$1.12, gross margins at 35 percent, higher than Appleis previous guidance of 32 percent thanks to favorable NAND and DRAM pricing, according to Seeking Alpha. In addition, some high margin products like the MacBook Air and 32 GB iPod touch combined with no major price cuts, except the iPod Shuffle, will help Apple.
The Berstein Research analyst predicted 2.08 million Macs, 1.45 million iPhones and 10.2 million iPods.
Even though Mr. Sacconaghi expects Apple to provide guidance below the consensus for the next quarter, he sees the the launch of the iPhone 3G, available in many countries, contributing to Appleis strong calendar second half of 2008.
He concluded, "Apple?s current valuation is fair to attractive," and suggested investors take a look at the stock after Appleis announcement on April 23. He also pointed out that AT&Tis;quarterly report is the day before, on April 22, and everyone should pay attention to anything they say about iPhone sales.