Will Apple Rise On Record iPhone Sales Or Fall On Weak Apple Watch Guidance?

Investors are anxiously waiting to see how Apple Inc. AAPL performed during the December quarter. The company's earnings results will be released on Tuesday, January 27. In the meantime, most analysts have continued to support the notion that Apple enjoyed another record-breaking quarter. "The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus are the best iPhones ever and they are selling the best," Tigress Financial Partners analyst Ivan Feinseth told Benzinga. "I do believe it will come in at the higher end of the [sales estimate] range." Cody Willard, chairman of Scutify (a social network for investors), has similar expectations for the iPhone 6. Global Equities Research analyst Trip Chowdhry previously told Benzinga that he expects Apple to be wickedly successful this quarter. That's the good news -- but what about the future? After the iDevice numbers are out, investors will look to Apple's next major product, the Apple Watch, for additional growth.

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Willard has been long Apple since March 2003. At that time the company was rumored to be acquiring Warner Music Group. In reality, Apple was preparing to launch its online music store, iTunes. Apple has gone through many ups and downs over the past 12 years. Willard thinks the company might endure another decline after its FY2015 Q1 results are released. "Everyone will be wondering how much they should be modeling for the Apple Watch," Willard explained. "Those are numbers that are really all over the place. I would expect Apple, in its usual way, to temper any optimism about it, probably talk it down, guide lower. I wouldn't be surprised to see the stock get hit after the quarter. Five, 10 percent, who knows?" Even so, Feinseth thinks it would be a mistake to base Apple's success on one new product. "The Apple Watch will be a good niche product," said Feinseth. "It's not going to be a mainstream product. It'll probably expand into other wearables and have other functions. I mean, people saying that if the Apple Watch is a failure then the whole company is done, I don't think that's fair." Feinseth noted that a growing number of corporations are adopting Apple's products. "They're here to stay," he added. "They're a dominant brand, and the more you get entrenched with using it -- once you get an iPhone and buy more apps and content, it's less likely that you will switch to another phone." Disclosure: At the time of this writing, Louis Bedigian had no position in the equities mentioned in this report.