Apple’s financial results have been bad for the past year, with revenue down for three straight quarters. For a company where increasing growth is normally a given, that’s really bad.
The iPhone 7, in all its waterproofy goodness, was supposed to fix things, and tomorrow’s when we really find out. Apple’s financial results for the last quarter — the quarter where iPhone 7 sales should have been particularly strong — come out tomorrow, and analysts are still cautiously optimistic that the iPhone 7 will have made Apple great again.
MarketWatch‘s preview of Apple’s earnings cites supply-chain sources and analysts to conclude that Apple should report an increase in revenues tomorrow. Apple is predicted to turn in something around $77 billion, which would be an increase of around $2 billion on the same quarter last year.
The bad news is that Apple’s famously high profits may begin to fall, driven by factors such as increased material costs in its iPhones, plus a lower average selling point, thanks to the iPhone SE and the iPhone 6s. But, if the iPhone 7 Plus proves a surprise hit, that could help keep Apple’s earnings per share up.
One interesting thing to watch for is what happens to Mac sales. Apple recently revamped the MacBook Pro with a bunch of new features, but also a newly-high price point. If it can drive serious sales of laptops that run over $2,000, it could help prop up a Mac department that’s been in a long, lazy free-fall for the past few years.
Apple’s earnings will be reported after the markets close on Tuesday.
