With earnings season in full steam, tech traders are keeping an eye on Apple (NasdaqGS: AAPL), often the largest holding in a plethora of market capitalization-weighted technology sector exchange traded funds.
Apple will reveal its first quarter data after the market close Wednesday. Some observers warn that this could be the first time in 11 years that the company comes up short, reports Daisuke Wakabayashi for the Wall Street Journal.
Thomson Reuters projects revenue of $43.54 billion for the first quarter, below the $43.6 billion for the same period year-over-year. In comparison, Apple projected revenue of $42 billion to $44 billion for the three months ended March.
Some believe Apple will fall into sideways trading on flat revenues, minimal earnings growth due to share buybacks and a small rise in iPhone sales that was offset by lower iPad sales, writes Mark Rogowsky for Forbes.
The only thing that might pique investment interest is hints of a new Apple product. The company has stated that it will move into new product categories in 2014 – it has been four years since Apple broke out a new product line, the iPad.
“In late January 2014, Apple reported strong first-quarter earnings, but issued a troubling second-quarter forecast implying little iPhone growth despite a new partnership with China Mobile,” according to Morningstar analyst Robert Goldsborough. “Near-term headwinds remain a stronger U.S. dollar, a rapidly declining iPod market, greater revenue deferrals on new product sales, and differences in the timing of iPhone and iPad launches in China.”