Here’s what to expect from Apple Q4 2019 earnings report

Apple’s Q4 2019 financial results will be announced soon. Here’s what to expect from the report.

CEO Tim Cook presents the new iPhone 11 at an Apple event at their headquarters in Cupertino, California, U.S. (REUTERS)

Apple will publish its Q4 earnings later today. The company had forecast revenue between $61 billion and $64 billion during Q4 2019. Most of the industry analysts believe Apple will easily achieve the target. The earnings results will also reveal how well the new iPhone 11 series has performed.

Even though Apple no longer reveals units sales of iPhones, it's highly Apple CEO Tim Cook will comment on what has been a mostly positive reception to new iPhone 11 series.

JP Morgan predicts iPhone sales have been "stronger than muted expectations." "We are modestly raising our iPhone volume forecasts and expect investor sentiment on AAPL shares to improve materially given the firm's ability to drive upward revision to volume expectations despite the 2019 product cycle largely considered to be a muted one," JP Morgan analyst Samik Chatterjee told investors.

"From multiple checks our TMT team has picked up that overall iPhone 11 demand is trending 'much better' than expected which further confirms our iPhone units forecast of 185 million for FY20 is very hittable," Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives is quoted as saying.

While iPhone 11 series may be a big hit, Apple's hardware business may have taken a hit due to the ongoing trade war between the US and China. Cook is likely to give an update on the possible impact during the earnings call. There will also be a big attention to Apple's newfound 'services' focus and the initial reception to its new products.

"Finally, the report should detail whether Apple's bet on its Services business continues to thrive or is beginning to fizzle out. The company is relying more on its service offerings to drive revenue as the iPhone upgrade cycle lengthens, so any drop in growth could spell disaster for the record share price," said Businesses Insider in its report.

"With an attractive price point at $4.99/month, and wide initial distribution to the Apple installed base via the bundled free year offer, we estimate Apple TV+ can become a $9B revenue business with 136M paid subscribers by FY25," Morgan Stanley analysts said in a note earlier this week.

Apple will livestream the conference call which is scheduled to start at 5:00PM ET (2:30AM Indian Standard Time).