Apple to release quarter sales, investors looking for new tech trends

Apple Incs iPhone sales and revenue forecasts, are due to be released today. The data may support concerns that companys low-cost 5C model missed the mark or it could provide information that the worlds largest tech company can continue its run of hit products.

Signs have showed that demand for the cheaper model is lagging the top-tier iPhone 5S, both of which went on sale in September, mainly because its $100 discount is proving to be insufficient to attract emerging market and price-conscious customers. Pegatron Corp, which assembles the model, had seen orders reduced by less than 20 percent, according to an anonymous source cited by Reuters.

But some analysts say the concerns are overblown and that a greater proportion of iPhone 5S shipped, translates into better margins and earnings overall. Apple will be reporting results just a week after the release of an improved iPad Air. However, iPhone is the companys flagship, which accounts for more than half the companys profit and is its highest-margin gadget, that takes center stage.

Investors are curious whether the company that revolutionized the cellphone industry is able to continue to produce groundbreaking devices. According to analysts say it will take a genuinely new device such as smartwatch to revive the stock. Investors also hope that Apple will seal a deal to sell phones through China Mobile Ltd, which is an important step toward raising market share in the worlds second largest economy.

“We do see fewer positive catalysts for the stock as the company finishes its annual product line refresh,” Colin Gillis, an analyst at BGC Financial, said in a Friday note to clients.

Apple is believed to report sales of 33 million to 36 million iPhones in its fourth quarter that ended in September, rising to more than 50 million in the typically strong holiday quarter which is the first full quarter of sales of the two new phones.

“Media reports of 5C production cuts are misleading, in our view, given what we think has been strengthening overall 5S,5C production with 5S vectors continuing to strengthen even real time,” Timothy Arcuri, an analyst at Cowen & Co, said in a research note.

Meanwhile, Facebook is also releasing data today and has shown an improved ability to make money advertising to the hundreds of millions of users who access the social network via portable devices, erasing concerns that it couldnt successfully navigate the mobile shift.

Facebooks third quarter profit excluding some items may rise 47% to $455.8 million, according to Bloomberg. Sales for the Menlo Park, California-based company will rise 51% to a record $1.91 billion.