One Simple Fact That Many Apple Inc. (AAPL) Investors Are Forgetting

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From an investing standpoint, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is affected by many different factors over the short run, but as we lengthen the time frame, the stock’s fortunes are undoubtedly tied to earnings growth. Valuation and future product releases are important as well, but investors won’t give the stock much support if its bottom line isn’t up to snuff.

With that being said, there’s quite a bit of improper reporting flying around the blogosphere and we thought it’d be best to set the record straight.

Apple Inc. (AAPL)

According to most armchair analysts, Apple investors should remain wary about next quarter’s (Q1 FY2013) financials, particularly on the earnings front. Officially, Wall Street’s 42 most prominent Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) analysts are predicting the company to finish Q1 with earnings of $13.46 per share, down 3% year over year, from Q1 FY2012’s EPS of $13.87.

Unbeknownst to a surprisingly large fraction of the media, though, Apple’s current 13-week quarter is actually seven days shorter than Apple’s fiscal Q1 in 2012. When we adjust Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) earnings estimates taking this fact into consideration, we can paint a decidedly different picture of the tech giant’s bottom line.

How exactly can we do this?

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