"Based on our analysis, we believe Apple is on track to report results in-line to slightly above consensus at $6.4 billion and $0.78, but well above Apple's guidance of $6.0-6.2 billion and $0.70-0.73," he says. He's expecting the company to report earnings of $0.79 per share on revenue of $6.4 billion.

Wu predicts that Mac sales will account for 38 percent of Apple's first quarter revenue, with overall shipments rising 11 percent sequentially to 1.8 million units. The analyst forecasts that iPods will account for another 40 percent of total revenue and expects to see "a continued rebound" of 77 percent sequential growth to 15.5 million units.

Farmer [url=http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070116/apfn_earns_preview_apple.html?.v=1]sees Apple posting higher results[/url] than Wall Street expects. He recently raised his outlook to earnings of 81 cents per share on sales of $6.5 billion, above consensus estimates. The company, he wrote in a note to clients, saw strong iPod sales during the holidays.

"We believe Mac demand has also been solid in December," he added, noting that more than 60 percent of iPod sales for the quarter took place in December.

Citing data from the NPD Group, a market research company, he said December is the best selling month for iPods, typically making up about 36 percent of the year's business. The quarter accounts for about 55 percent of the year's total sales, he added.

Analysts, on average, look for earnings of 78 cents per share on sales of $6.42 billion, according to a Thomson Financial poll. Apple said in October it expects revenue of $6 billion to $6.2 billion and earnings of 70 cents to 73 cents per share.

Apple will announce its latest financial results today at 2 p.m. (Pacific). Details will