Apple Shares Dip As Company Misses Analyst Projections

Apple missed the latest projection for sales and profits as customers held off purchases of iPhone in anticipation of the latest version of the iconic smart phone which is expected to be released later this year. Apple has fell short of analyst projections twice since 2003 and the latest news has caused the stock price of the technology giant to drop 6% in after hours trading of the stock.

On Tuesday, Apple stated that the company’s net income had grown 21% for a total of $8.82 billion. The California based firm also mentioned that overall sales had jumped 23% to a solid $35 billion. Any other firm would have been glad to have such numbers in a down economy but the market place and analysts have always expected strong numbers from the top achieving company which fell short of predictions. Bloomberg News had used a group of analysts and averaged their predictions to show that the market expected Apple to have profits of $10.37 a share and revenues of $37.2 billion.

While other firms and technology manufacturers have been hurting badly from the global economic downturn, Apple has bucked the trend and continued growing. However, the latest numbers show that the maker of iPhone has had the slowest growth in sales since 2009. The down turn in purchasing has been attributed to consumers holding back purchasing an iPhone until the latest version of the device is released. Since the iPhone is the largest source of revenue for Apple the 26% drop in sales of the device from the second quarter did reflect on the balance sheet with lower than expected numbers.

Share holders do not seem to be worried about the future of Apple though. New Apple CEO Tim Cook is revamping the iPhone and the hype around the new device has buyers and fans excited. Observers believe that the company will see a major surge in sales once the device is out later in the year.