Apple Inc (AAPL)

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AAPL: Piper Sees Miss On Mac Units; The Qtr To Own, Says Ticonderoga

By Tiernan Ray

Apple (AAPL) reports fiscal Q3 results in just a matter of hours. Too late to quarterback the quarter? Never.

Analysts are continue to tweak things. For example, Gene Munster with Piper Jaffray this morning opines that Apple’s sales of Mac desktops and laptops perhaps missed consensus estimates, coming in at 4 million to 4.2 million units in the quarter ended in June, below the 4.2 million consensus.

He’s basing that on an examination of NPD data released for each of the months of the quarter, which show 12% growth in Mac unit shipments in the quarter, year over year, in the U.S. That would appear to suggest that Mac sales “decelerated slightly” in the quarter while folks waited for new models of the MacBook “Air” laptops.

Münster reiterates an Overweight rating on Apple shares and a $554 price target. He’s not changing his estimate for the quarter, which stands at $24.49 billion in revenue and $5.51 per share in profit.

And Brian White with Ticonderoga this morning writes that the rally in Apple shares should continue on through tonight’s earning’s call and beyond, perhaps referring to the rally in Apple shares yesterday in the face of a terrible tape.

Apple stock this morning is up $2.84, or 0.8%, at $376.60, though it trails the broader market’s percentage gains, with the Nasdaq up 1.6%, at 2,808.

“Despite the recent rally, we believe tonight’s report will justify a continuation of this current leg up in the stock price that we have previously estimated could be a 100 plus point move and ultimately drive the stock to our $612 price target over the next year,” writes White.

White is modeling $25.9 billion in revenue this afternoon and $6.08 in EPS.

Again, the Street is looking for $25 billion in revenue and $5.85 per share in earnings.

http://blogs.barrons.com/techtraderdaily/2011/07/19/aapl-piper-sees-miss-on-mac-units-the-qtr-to-own-says-ticonderoga/