Apple today issued a media alert announcing details for the October 19th release of its financial results for the fourth fiscal quarter (third calendar quarter) of 2009. The results will cover sales from June 27th, 2009 through September 26th, 2009, and will be released after the close of trading on Monday at approximately 4:30 PM Eastern / 1:30 PM Pacific. Apple's conference call discussing the results will follow at 2:00 PM Pacific and will be available via a live audio webcast. GeekWebGuides will provide running coverage of the conference call highlights.
Apple did not have any major Mac product releases during the quarter, with the company having updated its notebook line at its Worldwide Developers Conference just prior to the quarter and users still awaiting much-rumored updates to the iMac and Mac mini. The iPhone 3GS launched alongside a price drop on the iPhone 3G just a week before the quarter began, and should offer significant contributions to Apple's revenue during the quarter. Finally, Apple updated its entire iPod line late in the quarter, likely spurring demand for that segment of Apple's business.
For the quarter, analysts are predicting net earnings of $1.42 per share on revenue of $9.19 billion, above Apple's guidance of $1.18-$1.23 profit on $8.7-$8.9 billion of revenue. Apple's year-ago results for the fourth fiscal quarter of 2008 included net earnings of $1.26 per share on revenue of $7.9 billion. A number of research firms and analysts are seeing evidence of strong Mac and iPhone sales based on recent data, suggesting that Apple may yet again have another strong financial quarter.
Recent changes to accounting standards may have an effect on Apple's guidance for this quarter if the company elects to adjust its reporting for the new fiscal year. Apple has in recent years offered two sets of financial numbers in order to provide a more accurate picture of the company's cash flow in light of accounting regulations that previously required Apple to defer revenue for iPhone and Apple TV sales, parceling out such revenue over a two-year period from the date of sale. As a result, Apple's official financial numbers have been significantly lower than its true performance. The recent accounting rule change will allow Apple to officially recognize a much greater percentage of hardware revenue for those devices at the moment of sale.
