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The Number To Beat (4/12/98)
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The official estimate from the analysts is in, only days before the final results are posted; the consensus among twenty-two analysts polled by the research firm First Call Corp. is that Apple will post a profit of $21.23 million for its second quarter. While that's not a terrific profit for a multi-billion-dollar company, it's still a nice vote of confidence in a company that's bled about two billion dollars over the past few years, especially given Apple's historical weakness in the second quarter. Details can be found over at MacWEEK.
For a sense of perspective, in the same quarter a year ago Apple posted a loss of over $700 million. In addition, apparently only one of the twenty-two analysts actually predicted a loss, and most analysts are expecting Apple to remain profitable through the next couple of years. If this isn't a sign that Apple's getting its house in order, we'll eat our collective hats. Of course, we're not sure just how seriously we can take the article's numbers, given that they listed Apple's Q1 profits to be $25 million, when we all know that it was $47 million. (D'oh!! Someone slap the factchecker!)
Keep in mind that last quarter, Apple beat the analysts' predictions by a considerable margin; that $47 million profit came after the consensus was for a small loss. Can Apple surprise us again? What do you think? If you haven't already, make sure you register your own prediction in our "Beat the Analysts" contest. If you're the closest guesser, fame, fortune, and fabulous prizes can be yours...
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And Now For A Word From Our Sponsors |
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 | | The above scene was taken from the 4/12/98 episode: April 12, 1998: A team of analysts expects that Apple will post a profit of about $21 million. Meanwhile, Mac-eliminator Dan Updegrove's soft white underbelly is exposed, and Apple considers cutting the LaserWriter loose...
Other scenes from that episode: 621: The Dirt on Updegrove (4/12/98) "Updegrove... Updegrove... Now where have we heard that name before?" Okay, true, it's been a few months since this was big news in the Mac world, but Dan Updegrove is the director of Information Technology Services at Yale who sent that infamous letter to the incoming freshpersons, informing them that Yale would not support Macs beyond the year 2000, and that all students should therefore buy Wintel PCs instead... 622: Buh-Bye, LaserWriter... (4/12/98) The cuts go on, as Apple continues to hack away every chunk of itself not focused tightly on its slim, trim business plan (whatever that may be). The next appendage to get the axe may be the LaserWriter division, if Mac the Knife's absinthe-soaked ramblings can be trusted. Okay, yes, selling off the printer line makes sense...
Or view the entire episode as originally broadcast... | |  |
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