With the technology stocks are weighed on by growth pressure, Apple (AAPL) is still a rare bright spot. The company will announce its second quarter results on Tuesday (July 24) after the that day’s market close, as of now, there is not any analyst cut Apple’s earnings expectation. Analysts have previously expected Apple’s second quarter earnings per share of $10.37 on revenue of $37.5 billion, an increase of 33% and 31% over last year, respectively. According to the statistics of FactSet Research, among the past 21 fiscal quarters, Apple has 20 quarters with earnings performance better than expected.
After the sharp rise in the first quarter of this year, AAPL stock price’s rally stopped for a rest in the second quarter, but the shares still have risen 3.4% since the beginning of July. Morgan Stanley released a report on July 17, saying that Apple’s financial statements which are upcoming to be released will be “relatively neutral”, but the expansion of new products, growth in the emerging markets and sustainable profits will drive the good performance of the company. Morgan Stanley expects the best stock will march to $960 in mid 2013, up 60% from the current level.
Analyst Brian White at Topeka Capital markets is more optimistic. He told investors that iPhone 5 release is just around the corner, the best stock has been prepared for a new round of sharp rise and White expects AAPL stock price to reach $1,111 next year.
Market participants generally expect that Apple will release iPhone5 and mini iPad around October and introduce Apple smart TV in early 2013. Analysts are bullish on Apple’s investment fundamentals, given that new product introductions will be the catalyst to promote the rise in APPL stock price in the second half of this year.
Data provided by Thomson Reuters show anothor factor of the best stock. Apple accounts for a large proportion of the overall profitability of the S&P 500 index. It is expected that the earnings of the S&P 500 will grow by 5.7%, and if excluding Apple, the growth rate will be narrowed to 4.8%.
Also read: US technology stocks were disgraced in Q2.