One person, who has watched Apple very closely, and has not been shy in expressing his love for the company, is Gene Munster, of Piper Jaffray. Munster has repeatedly called Apple stock a buy, and even when the stock began its free-fall from the high mark of $705 per share, he reiterated his feelings on the stock being worth the price.
Now, Apple Inc. will be reporting earnings after the closing bell today, and Munster has once again made predictions about the company. Munster notes that AT&T Inc. (T) alone, recorded 4.7 million iPhone activations this quarter, which is up 27% from the previous quarter. Munster, however, believes that iPhone sales for Apple will be down 4% from last quarter. He notes that according to Piper Jaffray's figures, non-iPhone 5 sales were down approximately 8% for AT&T, and 9% for Verizon. However, the analysts had thought that non-iPhone 5 sales would be down as much as 35% quarter over quarter. It appears that sales of older iPhones have done better than expected.
Munster does note that Apple may have made a mistake in not stocking up on iPhone 5 models in the months ahead of the launch, as it seems that supply and demand may have been a cause of lower sales numbers. He notes however, that he stands by his estimates of 25 million iPhones, he also believes that the company's expectations for the September quarter are achievable, possibly due to the iPad sales.
Munster has estimated that Apple Inc. will report $8.38 per share in earnings for this quarter, and $43.87 per share for this fiscal year. He also says he believes revenue will come in at $155.025 billion for 2012, with the fourth quarter holding $34.483 billion of that revenue.
For once, the Street holds a higher estimate than Munster on Apple's earnings, as consensus points to $8.75 per share in earnings, and a total revenue of $35.802 billion for the quarter. Munster does, however, stand by his price target of $910 per share on the company.
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