Investors will pay close attention to Apple's September-quarter earnings and guidance amid signs of slowing consumer spending. Apple stock has been sputtering ahead of next week's report.
Apple plans to announce its fiscal fourth-quarter results after the market close Thursday. Analysts polled by FactSet predict Apple earnings of $1.27 a share on sales of $88.7 billion. That would translate to year-over-year growth of 2% in earnings and 6% in sales.
For the December quarter, Wall Street sees Apple earnings of $2.11 a share, up a penny from a year earlier, on sales of $126.6 billion, up 2%.
A key focus area for investors will be the performance of Apple's latest smartphones, the iPhone 14 series. Supply chain and retail checks indicate strong sales of the pricier Pro models offset by middling sales of the regular models, analysts say.
Apple Stock Could Get iPhone 14 Lift
"We expect this year's iPhone 14 launch to add some juice to fiscal Q4 revenue," Monness Crespi Hardt analyst Brian White said in a note to clients Friday. However, he noted that "demand for the new premium iPhones and standard models appears more bifurcated this cycle."
Apple started selling the iPhone 14 series on Sept. 16 after a week of preorders.
White rates Apple stock as buy with a 12-month price target of 174.
On the stock market today, Apple stock climbed 2.7% to 147.27 during an overall positive day for stocks.
Premium Smartphone Sales A Bright Spot
Cowen analyst Krish Sankar said he sees rising risks for iPhone sales into year's end.
"Premium smartphones are one of the few areas within the tech landscape that has yet to see a demand correction although we believe this divergence could end in the coming quarter(s)," Sankar said in a note to clients Friday. He rates Apple stock as outperform with a price target of 200.
In addition to resilient iPhone sales, Apple should benefit from improved supplies of Mac computers and iPads in the September quarter, Barclays analyst Tim Long said in a note Thursday. However, Apple's services business, especially the App Store, appears to be weakening, he said.
Long rates Apple stock as equal weight, or neutral, with a price target of 155.
The outlook for Apple gets tougher after the December quarter, Long said. The company faces a series of risks ahead. They include potential consumer spending declines and the risk of government regulatory action against Apple's App Store and other services.
Follow Patrick Seitz on Twitter at @IBD_PSeitz for more stories on consumer technology, software and semiconductor stocks.
