Apple (AAPL) is expected to report Q1 earnings after the market close on Monday, January 25, with a conference call scheduled for 5 pm ET.

GUIDANCE

The consensus estimate is $2.07 for EPS and $12.05B for revenue, according to First Call.  Guidance provided by management on their last earnings call was for Q1 EPS of $1.70-$1.78 on revenue of $11.3B-$11.6B. 

ANALYSTS' VIEWS

Apple is traditionally conservative in the projections it provides and has beaten analyst earnings expectations by at least 15% in each of the past four quarters.  Apple’s Q1 was likely driven by strong growth in iPhone and Mac computer sales.  It’s rare for anything to trump expectations for an Apple earnings announcement, but most of the focus next week remains on what it will announce at the company’s upcoming Jan. 27 "special event". 

Some analysts say that speculation has run so high this time that anything less than a game-changing Tablet announcement could hurt Apple’s stock, which up until the last day or so has been running at record highs.  IPhone sales are expected to more than double to about 9M units for the quarter and Mac sales are expected to rise about 28% to 3.2M units. Sales of iPods are expected to decline about about 10% to 20.4M units. 

Wall Street analysts aren’t figuring in sales of whatever Apple unveils in San Francisco on Wednesday.  RBC Capital says that given post-holiday spending seasonality and following 2H/CY09 Macbook Pro and iMac product cycles, they expect Apple to provide typically conservative Q2 guidance for $9.5B-$10B GAAP revenue and $1.33-$1.48 GAAP EPS, below street at $10.3B and $1.75.  The firm expects gross margin guidance to also be conservative at 34%-35%.  Consensus for Q2 is $10.34B/$1.76.