 Welcome, traders, to another Tick Mill Earnings Report Preview with me, Patrick Manley. Before we jump into today's report, it's important that we adhere to the risk disclaimer that the material provided by me is for information purposes only and should not be considered as investment advice. Reviews, information and opinions expressed by me in this recording are solely mine and they're not indicative or representative of those held by Tick Mill UK or Tick Mill Europe Limited. Right, let's jump into today's report and we are looking at Apple. Apple are set to release earnings this evening after the New York Close. Looking for an earnings per share print here of $1.43 on revenue of $94.03 billion. I would say there is a whisper number on the street that the earnings per share can actually print as high as $1.57 billion. Some of the key metrics to look for in the report tonight are going to be really around Apple's iPhone revenue. iPhone sales are a substantial portion of Apple's revenue and historically have accounted for about half or more of the company's annual revenue. Apple's coming report for fiscal Q1 year includes the November to December holiday sales period. Apple's iPhone sales have often benefit from a strong general retail industry environment. During the 2021 holiday shopping season retail industry sales were up more than 14% year every year to a record $886 billion according to the National Retail Federation. That strength came despite inflation, supply chain issues and the pandemic. Apple's iPhone revenue has been more erratic compared with its overall revenue performance in recent years. The company's iPhone revenue declined during six of the eight quarters between the year 2019 through to the fourth quarter of 2020. The worst performance during the period was a 20.7% drop in sales during the fourth quarter of 2020. Beginning in the first quarter of 2021, however, iPhone revenue began to rebound. Sales climbed by 17.2% year over year for the first quarter of 2021 and by 65.5%, 49.8% and 47% for the second and third and fourth quarters respectively. Analysts expect a sharp slowdown in iPhone revenue growth for the first quarter of 2022. That rapid growth may be near an end, despite record holiday sales for the broader retail industry. Analyst estimates that iPhone revenue grew a scant 4.3% year over year in the first quarter of 2022. That's a quarter of the growth rate compared to the same quarter a year ago. Short shifts and delivery delays were a big factor, constrained consumer sales preventing Apple from having the blowout quarter predicted by analysts. Let's take a look at some of the statistical trading patterns that we can expect around the earnings release. The stock has moved higher in the immediate aftermath of earnings 6 out of 12 previous reports. On average, the stock moved up 1.2% in the first day of trading after the company reports its earnings. Based on the previous 12 earnings releases, Apple is more likely to trade higher one day after earnings for an average gain of 0.1%. The average post earnings 5-day performance is 1.8%. In terms of the option markets and implied volatility, options traders are pricing in a 5.9% move on earnings and the stock has averaged a 3.2% move in recent quarters. From a flow and sentiment perspective, there's been some notable buying 53,421 contracts at the 1.75 call expiring this Friday. Options order flow sentiment in general though has bearish. Investor sentiment going into the company's earnings release has 71% expecting an earnings beat. Consent assessments for year-over-year earnings growth of 2.14% with revenue increasing by 4.96%. Short interest has increased by 12.7% since the company's last earnings release, while the stock has drifted lower by 2.4%. It's open from its earnings release to be 1.6% above its 200-day moving average at 1.5927. Let's take a look at the technical setup now and see where the trading opportunities may be for this coming release. From a technical perspective, Apple, like most tech businesses, has been in a corrective phase. What I'm looking for now is whilst we hold resistance at 179.87, I'm looking for a pullback into this high-volume node at 149 and the equality objective 146.97, also the projected descending trend channel support here. I'll be watching for bullish reversal patterns in this area to engage on the long sides and then we will initially be looking for a re-test of the channel resistance up as high as 177. If we get through there on a closing basis through 180, then we target the next upside objective as 192.66. However, if the earnings do come in weaker than expected, then we get a negative reaction in the market. Any close through 146 will open and move down to test support to 136 as the next downside objective. As always, traders plan the trade, trade the plan and, most importantly, manage all this. Until next time, thanks very much.