Apple To Deliver Q3 Results Tomorrow; Low iPhone Sales Likely To Hit Revenue

World's largest smartphone manufacturer, Apple Inc is set to deliver its third-quarter results on August 3rd. However, the quarterly is expected to take a revenue drop due to a decline in its brand iPhone sales.

A poll of 24 analysts done by Visible Alpha, indicated that iPhone sales have likely dropped over 2% in the third quarter of FY23. This is compared to a rise of nearly 3% in the same quarter a year. In the March 2023 quarter, the sales were also up by 1.5%.

Further, as per Refinitiv, Apple is likely to report a 1.6 per cent drop in total quarterly revenue, which could be its steepest decline in third-quarter revenue since 2016.

Bob O'Donnell, founder of TECHnalysis Research told Reuters said, "Apple is not immune to general macroeconomic trends and will continue to set the pace (for the smartphone industry) for quite some time."

As per the report, this quarterly report could lead to a break from an upbeat earnings season for the likes of its peers in the Big Tech list such as Meta Platforms, Alphabet and Microsoft who have reported resilience in their cloud businesses and a rise in digital ad sales.

Nevertheless, as the new iPhone 15 is expected to be launched next month, analysts predict that a small nudge in iPhone sales could be seen during July to September quarter. Although, expectations of a mixed bag in results for this quarter have taken rounds.

On its website, Apple said, "Apple's conference call to discuss third fiscal quarter results and business updates is scheduled for Thursday, August 3, 2023, at 2:00 p.m. PT / 5:00 p.m. ET."

In the second quarter of FY23, Apple posted quarterly revenue of $94.8 billion, down 3 per cent year over year, and quarterly earnings per diluted share of $1.52, unchanged year over year.

During Q2 announcements, Tim Cook, Apple's CEO said, "We are pleased to report an all-time record in Services and a March quarter record for iPhone despite the challenging macroeconomic environment, and to have our installed base of active devices reach an all-time high."

He added that the company continues to invest for the long term and lead with our values, including making major progress toward building carbon-neutral products and supply chains by 2030.