The Braeburn Group AAPL March Quarter Estimates

On April 24th Apple will announce results for the company's 2nd fiscal quarter ended March 31st. To gauge expectations for the March quarter, we asked members of the Braeburn Group, formerly known as the AAPL Independent Analysts, to submit estimates for the company's March quarter performance. The group takes its new name from the braeburn apple, a hybrid cultivar of the popular fruit.

Among the fifteen Braeburn Group members who submitted estimates for the March quarter are Dennis Hildebrand, Navin Nagrani, Patrick Smellie and newcomers Scott Millar and Christian Peel. Collectively these fifteen individuals represent a cross section of the Group's members and come from a variety of professional backgrounds and career interests. Membership in this private group is open to those willing to register and actively participate in the group's lively discussions. 

On average Braeburn Group Index participants anticipate the following March quarter unit sales results:

		Macs	4,617,307	22.80%	YOY Growth
		iPhones	38,232,733	105.03%	YOY Growth
		iPads	13,301,667	183.38%	YOY Growth
		iPods	6,844,933	-24.09%	YOY Growth

Notes on the Unit Sales Estimates:

Mac Sales: In Apple's 14-week December quarter, Mac unit sales rose 25.74% to 5.198 million units. The average unit sales growth estimate from the Braeburn Group Index participants suggests unit sales growth of 22.80%, on track with the 22.19% unit sales growth Apple reported in in the fiscal year ended last September. 

iPhone Unit Sales: On average, the Braeburn Group Index participants expect iPhone unit sales growth of 105% to 38.232 million units. This is below the December quarter unit sales growth pace of 128% and slightly above the FY2011 unit sales growth rate of 99%.

iPad Unit Sales: The introduction of the new iPad in the final month of the March quarter has produced a wide range of unit sales estimate from the Braeburn Group Index analysts. For the quarter, the fifteen participants anticipate on average unit sales of sales of 13.301 million iPads and associated unit sales growth of over 183%.

iPod Unit Sales: On average, the index participants anticipate a nearly 25% decline in year-over-year iPod sales to about 6.845 million units. 

The AFB AAPL Price Target Index - June 2011 Edition

The Apple Finance Board is home to some of the best known and hardest working independent AAPL analysts on the blogosphere. As a service to the members of the AFB, a popular and well respected discussion board, I'm hosting the index of AFB AAPL price targets and share price forecasts developed by the members. 

Index participants submitted AAPL price targets for the first trading day of the month following the release of Apple's quarterly earnings reports through May 1, 2012 and associated ranges for the share price. The dates chosen for the quarterly price targets represent the first trading day of the month following the release of Apple's quarterly earnings reports, providing time for the markets to adjust the company's valuation based on the the most recent quarterly numbers. 

Comments on the index can be made at the bottom of this post and for registered members of the AFB in the topic created specifically for this discussion.  

The graphs and data table below indicate the average AAPL price targets of the index participants. The price targets and price range forecasts of each of the participants is listed below the averages. Thank  you to the AFB members participating in the index for the benefit of our readers.

	AFB	Index	Averages
	Date	Low	High	Target
	Aug 1, 2011	352	418	397
	Nov 1, 2011	394	470	445
	Feb 1, 2012	438	518	498
	May 1, 2012	478	558	547

Thank You to PED And The Active Members Of The AFB

I'd like to extend a thank you to Philip Elmer-DeWitt at Apple 2.0 for another compelling quarterly comparison of AAPL estimates from the bloggers and the Wall Street pros. Over the past several quarters Mr. Elmer-DeWitt has been the catalyst for transforming AAPL analysis into a participatory sport.

As the moderator of the Apple Finance Board (AFB) I'd to thank my fellow AFB members and independent bloggers Horace Dediu, Dennis Hildebrand, Turley Muller, Daniel Tello and Andy M. Zaky for their participation in the Apple 2.0 quarterly estimate comparisons as well as AFB members Jeff Fosberg, Alexis Cabot, Luke Kittell, Chas McKenna, Patrick Smellie, Adam Thompson and Mark Beauch. This quarter I'd like to see more of the AFB members participating in the quarterly analyst comparisons enter the blogosphere. Each of you are standouts and should more actively publish your insights and analysis.

The purpose of Posts At Eventide is to provide a wide range of information and analysis on the performance of Apple Inc. Thank you to all of the active members of the AFB mentioned above for being an inspiration to continue the hard work.

Robert Paul Leitao

The AFB AAPL FQ2 Estimate Index

The AFB AAPL FQ2 Estimate Index

The active members of the Apple Finance Board are best described as an assemblage of talented individuals with colorful personalities. They are outspoken, hardworking and focused on understanding everything there is to know about Apple and the company's financial performance.

As a service to the members of the AFB, a popular and well respected discussion board, I'm hosting the revenue and earnings estimates for Apple's second fiscal quarter developed by members of the community. As the host of the index and commentator on the members and their entries I've published my quarterly estimates in a separate blog entry at Posts At Eventide. 

This is the second consecutive quarter AFB member quarterly estimates have been collected and published. Although several members are new to the quarterly estimate development process newness to publishing estimates belies years of studying Apple as a company and years of familiarity with the company's popular and award-winning products. 

The average estimate of the 24 AFB members participating in the FQ2 index indicates expected revenue of $25.746 billion and earnings per share of $6.39. This is in contrast to the current Wall Street consensus of $23.15 billion in revenue and eps of $5.32. The AFB member revenue estimate represents an expected 90.7% rise in revenue in the quarter and eps growth of 91.9% over the prior-year period. All numbers in the chart below are in millions except per share data. 

Knowing the active members of the AFB from years of moderating the discussion board, it's a pleasure to host the FQ2 index at Posts At Eventide. Comments on the index can be made below and for registered members of the AFB in the topic created specifically for this discussion. 

Robert Paul Leitao


(Post edited 04/10/2011 to include estimates from Andy M. Zaky)

The AFB AAPL Price Target Index - February 2011 Edition

The AFB AAPL Price Target Index - February 2011 Edition

The Apple Finance Board is home to some of the best known and hardest working independent AAPL analysts on the planet. As a service to the members of the AFB, a popular and well respected discussion board, I'm hosting the index of AFB AAPL price targets and share price forecasts developed by the members here at Posts At Eventide.

This post is an update to the initial AFB AAPL Price Target Index published in January. The participants in this index represent a cross section of AFB members ranging from well known AAPL analysts Horace Dediu, Daniel Tello, Turley Muller and Andy M. Zaky, to long-time AFB members Mark Beauch and Ron Smith and newer members such as Dennis Hildebrand. In all, twenty four (24) members of the Apple Finance Board are represented in the index.

AFB AAPL Price Target Index Averages

Index participants submitted AAPL price targets for the first day of the month following the release of Apple's quarterly earnings reports through February 1, 2012 and submitted associated ranges for the share price. Comments on the index can be made at the bottom of this post and for registered members of the AFB in the topic created specifically for this discussion.  Thank you to the index participants for submitting their share price targets and anticipated trading ranges. 

The graph and data table below indicate the average AAPL price targets of the two dozen index participants.