Topic: Growth Stocks

Wall Street Stock Forecaster Hotline – Friday, July 24, 2015

Article Excerpt

APPLE INC., $124.50, Nasdaq symbol AAPL, reported better-than-expected quarterly results this week. However, concerns about slowing iPhone demand and uncertainty surrounding sales of its new Apple Watch caused the stock to fall 4%. In its fiscal 2015 third quarter, which ended June 27, 2015, Apple sold 47.5 million iPhones, up 35.0% from 35.2 million a year earlier, mainly due to strong demand in China. Even so, the latest total missed the consensus forecast of 48.8 million, probably because users are waiting for the company to release a new version later this year. Earnings jumped 37.8% to $10.7 billion from $7.7 billion. Per-share profits gained 44.5%, to $1.85 from $1.28, on fewer shares outstanding. That beat the consensus estimate of $1.81. Sales rose 32.5%, to $49.6 billion from $37.4 billion, also exceeding the consensus forecast of $49.3 billion. In addition to strong demand for iPhones (63% of total sales), sales of Mac computers (12%) gained 8.8%, while sales of software, music and movies (10%) rose…