Apple expected to announce record quarter after market close

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Apple Inc. is getting set to announce its financial performance for its fiscal fourth quarter Tuesday afternoon, and it may be a record once again — largely on strong sales of its flagship product, the iPhones.

Analysts believe Apple will have sold close to 22 million iPhones during the recent quarter -- the last before the release of the newer iPhone 4S model. Though the 4S won’t be included in this quarter’s performance, Apple said Monday that it sold 4 million of the devices in its first weekend, nearly doubling the sales number of the previous iPhone 4, its bestselling ever.

According to a consensus of analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters, Wall Street expects Apple to announce earnings per share of $7.39 on revenue of $29.7 billion. Apple’s stock is up 12% in the last three months, partly on the strong initial reaction to the iPhone. In midday trading Tuesday, shares of the stock were down $1.82, or 0.43%, to $418.17.

The quarterly earnings release will be the first since the death two weeks ago of Apple’s co-founder and longtime captain Steve Jobs. Tim Cook, the new chief executive officer, will likely preside over the earnings call with analysts, which will take place at 2 p.m. PDT. Readers can listen to that call online at this link.

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-- David Sarno