S&P Capital IQ's Expectations For Apple's Q3 Earnings

As Apple Inc. AAPL prepares to report the third-quarter earnings after market hours on Tuesday, the Street has several expectations the company needs to meet.

S&P Capital IQ Industry Analyst Angelo Zino was on CNBC recently to discuss his firm expectations for Apple's earnings.

Expectations

"We still think iPhone sales did very well here in the current quarter," Zino began. "Looking at 52 million in total iPhone sales which would— modestly above what the consensus is looking at in a high 40 million range. Overall, the momentum continues for the larger screen phones."

Related Link: Cantor Fitzgerald's Brian White: Apple Stock Is "Pretty Amazing"

He went on, "We think you will continue to see easy comparables. And that strong demand out of China, really, we think is ongoing, where north of 50 percent of their total growth is coming out of China [...] it's still very important."

Apple Watch Sales

On the Apple Watch sales number, Zino said, "Unfortunately, we don't expect them to break it out, just kind of given the commentary that the company has given here in recent quarters. That said, we do expect Apple Watch sales to probably come in around the 4 million or 5 million range, which overall is a very good quarter.

"That takes into account the initial surge that we saw from their early adopters. That being said, I think the run rate here has decelerated significantly. And, I think kind of the bigger question mark and answer investors want is, how [and] what kind of commentary can they give on going forward rate for the Apple Watch," Zino concluded.