Lot's of things Apple can do! So far, the biggest announcement of 2012 was the $10 billion dividend. They could significantly increase the dividend, put in a much bigger bid for stock buybacks, or a combination of the two. It's not like the cash is burning a hole in their pockets after this quarter, which will probably see a jump to $140 billion in cash. Who knows, maybe they hold off til March again this year.
Whatever the case, the whole debate about the March slowdown has been priced into the stock since the WSJ article appeared on the 15th. I think most of the analysts have probably adjusted their March forecasts lower to reflect what they think that Apple will guide towards - $45 billion and $10.77 in EPS according to Piper Jaffrey. A lot will depend on margins, which were guided significantly lower for this quarter due to the heavy costs of ramping up the iPhone 5. They should be in better shape going forward as far as margins go.
Beyond March, things look even better for Apple going forward. New products, new carriers like T Mobile, DoCoMo and China Mobile, and a huge replacement cycle for the iPhone 4S beginning to kick in for companies like Sprint and Verizon.
Everyone is expecting great results and a normal seasonal downturn this quarter. It would be nuts to think Apple will sell 6.2 million iPhones to Verizon again this quarter, but I'm sure they will do more than that next year. However, China still has a long ways to go this quarter since they just started selling the iPhone 5 and cheaper versions of the iPhone 4 and 4S.
Call me crazy, but I thought last year was really boring for Apple. This year, it seems like all the analysts are looking forward to more new products and growth again. |
