It's Q2 right? Or do they not use the calendar year for accounting?
They do not – their fiscal year ends 9/30.
Apple reports Q3 results
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Re: Apple reports Q3 results
#22Given the high rates of unemployment in the US and around the world (with possibly worse to come) this kind of consumer spending on luxury goods is pretty remarkable. Wonder how sustainable it is.
There are other examples as well. For me, it is RVs. Generally people only buy them when they're feeling good about the future, so you'd expect uncertainty to be devastating right now. Nope, dealers are moving them as fast as they can get them in stock, and they're not budging on price. Normally you only pay about 2/3 MSRP for an RV. Not right now. Sucks because I want to upgrade to something a little bigger, and I d…
Either that, or a large number of people are unable to meet expenses and forced to break bad. /jk
Re: Apple reports Q3 results
#23Given the high rates of unemployment in the US and around the world (with possibly worse to come) this kind of consumer spending on luxury goods is pretty remarkable. Wonder how sustainable it is.
Here in the UK between working from home and "remote schools" (i.e. schools moving online because of the lockdown) spending on things like home offices, laptops, etc. went up.
If you're stuck at home you probably and in any case spend more time online and/or on your phone, which has to be good for whoever owns online app and music stores. (This also explains Facebook's good results).
All in all, it's not surprising that results are good for Apple. But it is not sustainable growth.
Re: Apple reports Q3 results
#24Given the high rates of unemployment in the US and around the world (with possibly worse to come) this kind of consumer spending on luxury goods is pretty remarkable. Wonder how sustainable it is.
Unemployed Americans have (temporarily) discovered the world of fare living-wage unemployment that expires tomorrow. If you don't live in NY or CA, those extra $600 a week can go very far, and have probably helped stimulate the economy greatly
If you live in an expensive NY/CA metro, that money can be the difference between unemployment benefits covering your rent or mortgage payment or not, which is a very big deal.
California's unemployment benefit caps out at $450/week.
Re: Apple reports Q3 results
#25Given the high rates of unemployment in the US and around the world (with possibly worse to come) this kind of consumer spending on luxury goods is pretty remarkable. Wonder how sustainable it is.
There are other examples as well. For me, it is RVs. Generally people only buy them when they're feeling good about the future, so you'd expect uncertainty to be devastating right now. Nope, dealers are moving them as fast as they can get them in stock, and they're not budging on price. Normally you only pay about 2/3 MSRP for an RV. Not right now. Sucks because I want to upgrade to something a little bigger, and I d…
RV's are not a good sign of recovery in this case.
Usually RVs are bought in addition to other travel, they are more of a luxury item.
In the current environment where booking a hotel is considered by some risky RVs are bought as a necessity if one wants to travel.
Re: Apple reports Q3 results
#26It's Q2 right? Or do they not use the calendar year for accounting?
They don’t use the calendar numbering, but I don’t really know why
Along other reasons, with such a massive percentage of their income (and income variability) in Q4, it really helps their accountants to close out a tax year in the (relatively) predictable and stable Sept after three quarters of normalizing cashflows.
Sheltering taxes in a double-Irish requires pretty accurate projections.
Also often they just don't have all the data they need to close out a year until a few weeks after holidays, especially if people are taking a break, so it's just a lot easier on the humans involved.
Re: Apple reports Q3 results
#27It's Q2 right? Or do they not use the calendar year for accounting?
They don’t use the calendar numbering, but I don’t really know why
Apparently:
For a variety of reasons, some public companies will use a non-standard or non-calendar quarterly reporting system. For example, Walmart's first quarter is February, March, and April; Apple Inc's Q1 is October, November, and December; Microsoft Corporation's Q1 is July, August, and September.
In addition, certain governments use different quarter systems. The first quarter of the United States federal government’s fiscal year is October, November, and December, Q2 is January, February, and March, Q3 is April, May, and June, and Q4 is July, August, and September. State governments may also have their own fiscal calendars.
Sometimes a company may have a non-standard fiscal year to help with business or tax planning. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) allows companies to choose a “tax year” that is still 52-53 weeks long but does not end in December. H&R Block (HRB) ends its fiscal year on April 30th, which makes sense because that is the end of the busiest part of the company’s year. Releasing your annual report, which may be accompanied by shareholder meetings and additional disclosures after the busiest part of your year will help managers and shareholders make better decisions about the year ahead.
Companies that rely on U.S. government contracts may use September as the end of their fiscal year, and the fourth quarter because that is when they expect new projects to be closed and budget planning from the government to be available. Historically, large technology firms had stronger quarters early in the year, which is why many of them (including Microsoft (MSFT)) have a fiscal year that closes at the end of June.
Some companies have very unusual quarterly systems. Adobe (ADBE) closes their fiscal year on the Friday closest to November 30th. In 2018, November 30th was a Friday, as well as the last day of the month but in 2017, ADBE closed their fourth quarter and the fiscal year on Friday, December 1st, because it was the Friday closest to November 30th.
Re: Apple reports Q3 results
#28Given the high rates of unemployment in the US and around the world (with possibly worse to come) this kind of consumer spending on luxury goods is pretty remarkable. Wonder how sustainable it is.
Unemployed Americans have (temporarily) discovered the world of fare living-wage unemployment that expires tomorrow. If you don't live in NY or CA, those extra $600 a week can go very far, and have probably helped stimulate the economy greatly
> If you don't live in NY or CA, those extra $600 a week can go very far
True. My girlfriend lost her job March. She is unemployed since then. We are not based in NY or CA. She has mentioned this to me several times that how much more she has in savings now. With all this time and some extra cash, I have asked her learn coding. She is working on her app idea.
Re: Apple reports Q3 results
#29Given the high rates of unemployment in the US and around the world (with possibly worse to come) this kind of consumer spending on luxury goods is pretty remarkable. Wonder how sustainable it is.
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Re: Apple reports Q3 results
#30Given the high rates of unemployment in the US and around the world (with possibly worse to come) this kind of consumer spending on luxury goods is pretty remarkable. Wonder how sustainable it is.
Unemployed Americans have (temporarily) discovered the world of fare living-wage unemployment that expires tomorrow. If you don't live in NY or CA, those extra $600 a week can go very far, and have probably helped stimulate the economy greatly
CA has plenty of people living in poverty $600/wk make a world of difference for.