Goldman Sachs has initiated coverage of Apple at “in-line” and says that the company is “one of the few companies in tech with the ability to consistently innovate and then monetize that innovation,” reports Forbes. In addition to expectations of fiscal 2005 earnings of US$1.51 per share and fiscal 2006 earnings of $1.85, Goldman said they “see iPod and other music-related offerings as well as software, services, and peripherals contributing over 80% of Apple’s top-line growth in fiscal 2005 and 90% in fiscal 2006.” Goldman also said that for the first time in three years, the Macintosh installed base should start to grow again with unit shipments rising 10% in calendar 2004, notes Forbes. “In calendar 2005, stronger sales of Apple’s recently refreshed iMac and Power Mac desktops (off of easy comparisons), pull from the popularity of iPod, and the continued shift to notebooks should fuel unit growth of 10% compared to our industry growth estimate of 9%,” the research firm said.
