Apple to announce earnings after the close. What is expected?

Apple is set to announce earnings Earnings A company’s earnings represent its profits or net benefits as a result of its operation.Earnings are the net benefits of a corporation's operation. Earnings can be calculated as EBIT, i.e. earnings before interest and taxes, and EBITDA, i.e. earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization.Earnings are valuable tools for investors of company shares as they can often highlight a company’s financial standing and performance. Better performances can result in strengthened share price A company’s earnings represent its profits or net benefits as a result of its operation.Earnings are the net benefits of a corporation's operation. Earnings can be calculated as EBIT, i.e. earnings before interest and taxes, and EBITDA, i.e. earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization.Earnings are valuable tools for investors of company shares as they can often highlight a company’s financial standing and performance. Better performances can result in strengthened share price Read this Term after the close.

For the second quarter, Apple is expected to report

• Earnings per share of $1.43
• Revenues $92.97 billion , representing a 4.4% annual decline from $97.28B last year.

Declines in revenue are anticipated across all Apple hardware product lines. The information Apple provided earlier this year suggested that sales would drop for a second straight quarter by roughly 5%.

• iPhone revenue is projected to fall 3.8% on an annual basis.
• Sales of iPads and Macs are expected to see sharp decreases of 12% and 25.4%, respectively.

Analysts expect another large share buyback Share Buyback A share buyback or repurchase involves a company re-acquiring its own shares. This is a common and flexible way of helping return to shareholders. Share buybacks have developed into popular techniques, alongside stock dividends, by companies that are looking to inject funds directly to shareholders. Listed companies are able to simply repurchase its own stock, for a small sum of its outstanding equity, whereby reducing the number of outstanding shares. In doing so, these shares are available for A share buyback or repurchase involves a company re-acquiring its own shares. This is a common and flexible way of helping return to shareholders. Share buybacks have developed into popular techniques, alongside stock dividends, by companies that are looking to inject funds directly to shareholders. Listed companies are able to simply repurchase its own stock, for a small sum of its outstanding equity, whereby reducing the number of outstanding shares. In doing so, these shares are available for Read this Term number with the figure to remain the same as last year's $90 billion. Over the past decade, Apple has been the leading company in share repurchases, spending over $572 billion from 2012 to 2022. Rival Alphabet follows with $178.5 billion in share repurchases.

The focus of the report will also be on capital returns and how long Apple can maintain this level of spending. Some analysts expect Apple to work towards achieving net cash neutrality in the future.

Guidance for the upcoming quarter is uncertain, with expectations of another annual drop in sales. However, analysts anticipate a lower decline compared to the previous quarter.

• The company's revenue for the third quarter is projected to increase by approximately 2% to $84.7 billion, according to Refinitiv.

Analysts suggest that even with a soft outlook, Apple's strong fundamentals and its reputation for high-margin device sales may benefit the company.

Apple shares are trading down -$2.24 or -1.34% at $165.21. The price reached a high of $170.90 on Monday. That took the price to the highest level since August 19. The all-time high price reached in January 2022 traded at $182.87. The low price traded as low as $124.17 back on January 3 of this year.

Looking at the hourly chart, the low price today stalled right near its rising 200 hour moving average (green line in the chart below). That moving average currently comes in at $164.37. A move below that level would tilt the short-term trading bias to the downside with the swing low from April 26 at $162.83, and the 38.2% retracement of the move up from the March low at $160.58 as another downside target. The 50% level comes in at $157.39. A move to that level from current levels, would imply a decline of -4.67%.