The Week Ahead: July 17-21, 2006
07.15.06, 6:00 AM ET
Forbes
Wednesday, July 19. Apple (nasdaq: AAPL - news - people ) Chief Executive Steve Jobs gets to step into his favorite place, the spotlight, next week as his company reports financial results for its fiscal third quarter, which ended late in June. The stock, at $52, is at its low for the year amid a lack of new products and concerns about slowing iPod sales, but the notoriously secretive Jobs likely won't give up any forward-looking product hints next week, opting instead to wait for the company's annual developer conference in August. The financial report will be all about Jobs proving that he's made the right decision by using Intel (nasdaq: INTC - news - people )'s chips in its computers and that consumers remain unabashedly in love with everything iPod. This report is especially crucial considering the lackluster data emerging around Dell (nasdaq: DELL - news - people ), the world's largest PC maker. If Jobs can buck the broad concerns and prove that the rest of the year will be strong, look for the stock to get a lift. Analysts expect earnings of 44 cents a share and sales of $4.41 billion, on average, according to Thomson First Call. -- Chris Kraeuter |
