NEW YORK (AP) — Apple Inc. on Tuesday will report results for the October to December period, its fiscal first quarter, during which co-founder Steve Jobs died and the technology company started selling the latest version of the iPhone.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR: Analysts are predicting a record-setting quarter for the company after a somewhat disappointing fourth quarter. The iPhone 4S went on sale Oct. 14 in the U.S. and a few other countries, a month or so later than analysts had expected.
The delay in the launch of the latest phone meant that iPhone sales in the July-September quarter, while still strong, were short of expectations. Apple shares fell 5.6 percent the day after the company reported results. But CEO Tim Cook promised the company would be back with a vengeance in the first quarter, and the shares recovered.
The iPhone 4S appears to be another success for Apple. Michael Walkley at Canaccord Genuity estimates that the company sold 30.5 million iPhones and 13 million iPads in the quarter, setting new records.
Apple rarely talks about new products on its earnings conference calls, but analysts will be listening for a hint about Apple's rumored interest in getting into TVs. It's one area of consumer electronics that it's mostly left alone, though it does sell Apple TV boxes that link a set to the iTunes store for movie viewing. Apple watchers are speculating that the Siri voice-command software on the iPhone 4S is a dry run for a voice-command TV set.
Company co-founder Steve Jobs died Oct. 5 after a long battle with cancer.
WHY IT MATTERS: At a valuation of about $393 billion, Apple is the world's second most valuable company, after Exxon Mobil Corp. The iPhone, released in 2007, essentially created the mass consumer smartphone market. The iPad, released in 2010, created a hot new computer category and already has sold about 53 million units.
WHAT'S EXPECTED: Analysts expect earnings of $10.04 per share and revenue of $38.92 billion, according to FactSet.
Apple has said it expects earnings of $9.30 per share and revenue of $37 billion, but it usually lowballs its forecasts, and analysts don't pay much attention to them.
LAST YEAR'S QUARTER: In the same period a year ago, Apple earned $6.43 per share on $26.74 billion in revenue.



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