Apple Watchers Brace for Q3 Earnings & Q4 Outlook

Apple Earnings DueAway from the central bank action we’re seeing this week, US earnings season is still rolling on and attention today will be on tech giant Apple. The group is due to report Q3 earnings at the close and traders will be keen to see whether the firm can break the recent trend of falling sales or if it suffered a fourth straight quarter of decline. Ahead of the open today, the stock is trading a little higher, boosted by a weaker US Dollar.Forecasts for TodayIn terms of the forecasts for today’s results, the market is looking for Q3 EPS of 1.392 on revenues of $89.344 billion. If seen, this would mark an uptick on the prior quarter’s results though slightly down on the same quarter a year prior. Along with Q3 results, traders will be heavily focus on Apple’s guidance for the current quarter.Q4 OutlookTypically, this is Apple’s best performing quarter with holiday demand driving a surge in sales. Given the tighter financial conditions we’re seeing this year, traders will be keen to hear how Apple think’s demand for its products will be impacted. On this front, Wall Street is looking for Q4 sales of $122.97 billion, which would mark a 5% uptick in growth if seen. If Apple’s own forecasts fall below this level we might see some near-term selling of the stock.Technical ViewsAppleThe stock has been turning higher within the bear channel which has framed the correction lower from YTD highs. Price is now testing the bear channel top and the 176.14 level resistance. This is a key marker for price and a break higher here will be firmly bullish, potentially signalling the resumption of the pre-July bull trend. Above here, 182 is the next hurdle for bulls to tackle. To the downside, 167.45 is key support.