YEREVAN, January 24. /ARKA/. Apple investors hoping for a nice stock boost following fiscal first-quarter earnings are likely pretty disappointed right now, CNET reported.

Shares, which have already been under pressure in recent weeks, slid about 10 percent in late trading after the Cupertino, Calif., electronics giants failed to post quarterly results that were as strong as hoped. Shares initially slid about 5 percent after the report, but losses accelerated during Apple's conference call.

Revenue for the first-quarter ended in January was weaker than analysts expected, as were the company's projections for second-quarter sales. And iPhone sales, while a record, also weren't quite enough to please investors.

All-in-all, the quarterly numbers likely won't assuage fears about slowing growth. Reports over the past few weeks have speculated that Apple is cutting component orders for its iPhone 5 owing to slumping demand for the handset, and other reports have said Apple also is having trouble selling its tablets.

For the quarter ended in December, Apple posted revenue of $54.5 billion, and earnings of $13.1 billion, or $13.81 per share. That was just below the $54.7 billion and slightly above earnings per share of $13.44 that Wall Street was expecting, but above the $52 billion and $11.75 per share that Apple forecast for itself back in October.
Apple sold 47.8 million iPhones during the quarter, which ended in December. Sales of the iPad came in at 22.9 million, with 4.1 million units sold for the Mac. Customers bought 12.7 million iPods. –0--