Apple, Inc. Earnings: Why Guidance Is Key

When Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) reports its quarterly results this week -- just before the holiday season -- the tech giant's guidance for the upcoming quarter may ultimately be the most important metric for investors to watch. Not only representing the holiday period, but also the period in which sales of the latest iPhones usually gain steam, the company's fiscal first quarter (the fourth calendar quarter) is seasonally its biggest -- by a long shot.

In Apple's first quarter of fiscal 2018, the Mac maker will be up against record quarterly revenue reported in the year-ago quarter after the iPhone 7 was released. The question, therefore, is whether Apple will provide guidance for first-quarter revenue above its top line in the first quarter of fiscal 2017?

iPhone X. Image source: Apple.

Source: Fool.com