Analyst sees Apple selling 100 million iPhones and 40 million iPads this year

Morgan Stanley analyst Kathy Huberty told her clients that if Apple's stock craters on Tuesday-the first trading day following the news that CEO Steve Jobs is taking a medical leave of absence-to buy the stock on the weakness. Huberty is expecting the company to have an amazing year selling the Apple iPhone and iPad, which is her basis for recommending Apple's stock as a buy at lower prices.

The analyst is expecting the company to earn $25 a share in fiscal 2011, well ahead of the consensus of analysts which adds up to $20.68 per share. The main reason for the high estimate is Huberty's prediction that Apple will sell 100 million iPhones and 40 million iPads in 2011. She recently made a visit to the Cupertino based manufacturer's supply chain and increased her sales figures from the previous estimate of 72 million iPhones and 30 million iPads. The older figures were already above the consensus sales estimates.

In her report, the analyst said, "In addition to upward revisions from the recent Verizon launch, our meetings highlighted long iPhone lead times in China given strong demand. iPad touch panels, the major bottleneck over the past several quarters and 10-15% of the iPad's bill of materials, are now produced at 90% manufacturing yields with potential cost benefits passed on to Apple this year."

For the company's Q1 2011 earnings, Huberty is looking for Apple to bring in nearly $24 million in revenue and earn $5.25 per share on sales of 15 million iPhones and 5.5 million iPads. She also noted that while most all product categories will show some upside for the year, the expanding gross margins on Apple's touchscreen handset and tablet will be the big reason for the jump in earnings per share this fiscal year.

source: AppleInsider