Apple earnings: Four things to expect after the iPhone 6 success and Apple Watch launch from the second quarter results
Apple is expected to report another exceptional quarter, still riding high from the success of the iPhone 6.
It's a tough act to follow after last quarter, its first since the new generation phone launched last year, when it sold a record 74.5m iPhone's and sales rose an astonishing 30 per cent to $74.6bn (yes, you read that right).
It smashed expectations and was the biggest quarterly profit ever reported by any company in history.
Shares in Apple have risen 59 per cent in the last year and 19 per cent in the last three months since that record-breaker, leading some to predict Apple could break the trillion dollar market cap.
Here's what's being predicted.
1. The figures
Earnings per share are expected to come in at around $2.15 per share, up from expectations of $2.12 a month ago and $2.02 three months ago. The same quarter last year produced earnings of $1.66.
At the same time last year it reported record quarterly revenue of $45.5bn. This year analysts expect that to be $56bn.
2. China's where it's at
iPhone sales in China are expected to overtake those on its home turf in the US for the first time. Analysts had called this in the first quarter, but with iPhone 6 sales still surging, it's very much still a prospect. Predictions have been made of 18 to 20m units in China versus 14 to 15m shipments in the US.
3. Cash back
More than $103bn has already been returned to shareholders since 2012 and Apple's on course to make that $130bn by the end of the year through share buybacks and dividends.
Apple boss Tim Cook is expected to give shareholders an update on plans to return even more cash to their pockets.
4. Watch update
Apple has been tight-lipped about the first week of Apple Watch sales – unlike the iPhone six when it was shouting about
The Apple Watch may be quite a different beast- a new hardware category, sell and price point for Apple – but Cook is likely to give some sort of indication as to how the new device will contribute towards its bottom line.