Analysts Comment on Apple Before Q3 Earnings

As Apple, Inc.

is scheduled to release its third quarter earnings tomorrow, July 22 after the market close, a number of analysts have issued reports detailing how they expect the company performed in the quarter. At Cantor the analysts believe the Apple's third quarter results will be less significant than the prior periods because investors are more focused on the company's new product launches, the ramp in China Mobile, and the push into the enterprise space with the IBM deal. Taking this notion a little further the analysts at JMP Securities have upgraded Apple to Market Outperform and set a $135 price target on optimism for the company to experience resurgent growth and margin leverage through "new products, new markets, and new applications". Jumping on the band wagon, the team at Deutsche Bank believes Apple will post results inline with the consensus estimates of $38 billion in sales and an EPS of $1.23. Adding to this they wrote, "we like the stock as a trade into the end of the year on new product announcements, which have typically driven strong out-performance for the shares." On an above consensus view, the UBS analysts have raised their price target from $100 to $115 and maintained a Buy rating. To support this increase, they cited a buyer survey and model that leads them to believe there is upside to gross margin in both the near and intermediate-term.