For the first time since 2004 Apple missed their earnings estimate bringing in $7.05 per share against expectations of $7.39 per share… a huge miss for such an enormous company notorious for blowing away estimates in the past.
The earnings miss comes just weeks after founder and CEO Steve Jobs death, and also shortly after one of their largest competitors, Google, crushed their earnings estimate.
Apple shipped just 17.1 million iPhones against 22 million units which was expected by the street… the news ironically coming shortly after iPhone 4S set a record for one day phone sales. IPad sales on the other hand exceeded expectations by around 10% with 11.1 million units against an expected 10.0 million units.
Shortly after the announcement shares of Apple (ticker: AAPL) dropped about 6.5% to the mid $390’s before bouncing back to the low $400 range.
Analysts are split on whether the drop in the stock represents a buying opportunity or the beginning of a decline in the most profitable company in the world.
Apple will host an earnings conference call at 5:00 on Tuesday (10/17) to explain what happened.
