Apple tries to temper some expectations heading into the end of the year
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With the inclusion of the Christmas and holiday shopping season, Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) fiscal first quarter is always the biggest period of sales for the company. A good reason for that is because the quarter includes the first three months of sales of the latest version of the iPhone.
But, is it possible Apple (AAPL) might get some coal in its stocking this year?
That could be a stretch, but based on comments Apple (AAPL) officials made on a Thursday conference call, the final quarter of 2022 is likely to see some issues that are typically foreign to the world's largest company by market cap.
Apple (AAPL) Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri said the company expects its fiscal first-quarter sales rate to "decelerate" compared to its recently completed fourth quarter. Maestri made his comments as he, and Chief Executive Tim Cook gave a look into Apple's (AAPL) business along with reporting earnings and sales results for the quarter that ended September 30.
Maestri said Apple (AAPL) wouldn't give a revenue forecast for the December quarter. To do so would include potentially estimating that sales might surpass the $123.9B Apple (AAPL) took in during the prior year's first quarter.
Instead, Maestri provided what he called "directional thoughts" about Apple's (AAPL) business, which he said included the company anticipating a 10% impact from foreign currency exchange rates due to the effect on a strong U.S. dollar.
"It's [foreign exchange rates] an obvious factor affecting our results," Maestri said. "What do we do when we have a strong dollar? We hedge our exposure around the world as our primary tool to offset the [foreign exchange] pressure."
As far as sales decelerating go, Apple's (AAPL) will have a full quarter of sales of its new line of iPhone 14 smartphones, which start at $799 each. And with the iPhone remaining Apple's (AAPL) biggest source of revenue, the company will be looking for it to boost overall sales that Maestri said would also show the impact of a "substantial" decline in Mac revenue.
For his part, Cook said that Apple (AAPL) is maintaining "a relentless focus" on its future, and "whatever challenges lie ahead lie ahead in the new year, we are investing the only way Apple can."
Apple (AAPL) also reported third-quarter results that included iPhone sales that rose almost 10% from the same period a year ago.