Apple results preview: Tim Cook's tech giant is far from lost despite slowing sales growth

All eyes on Wall Street will be on Apple's stock on Tuesday (26 January). The company is reporting on its first financial quarter of 2016 after the markets close and it is a widely anticipated quarter where Apple will need to prove itself.

Apple's share price has fallen more than 13.5% since the start of its new financial year and, seeing as the quarter covers the three months to 26 December, it will give a good view on the Christmas performance of the tech company.

Since the iPhone launch in 2007, Apple has increased smartphone sales every year. But now, some investors are scared that Apple won't even come close to levelling with last year's sales. In 2016, the iPhone 6s sales have been relatively weak, and according to Nikkei Asian Review, Apple is set to cut back iPhone orders between January and March by 30%.

However, with iPads and watches on the market, we can only wait and see what Apple has done over the last quarter. The market expectation is that the tech giant will have generated $76.67bn (£53.5bn) in revenue, an increase of 2.9% on last year's $74.6bn (£52bn). Profit is also expected to edge up slightly, from $18bn to $18.22bn in the quarter.

According to a Fortune estimate, Apple is thought to have sold some 76.5 million iPhones, a minor increase from last year's 74.5 million in the same quarter. Crawford Del Prete, chief research officer at IDC, told Bloomberg TV that the company will continue to perform in the long term. "Apple's going to be able to deliver some growth, but I think that growth in the aggregate, in terms of if you look at the overall smartphone category I think they're going to struggle to get over 5% growth going forward over the next couple of years," he said.

"They may see individual quarters where they grow, up to say 10% but we're going into a new era now and that new era has different growth associated with it," stated Del Prete. "But make no mistake, they have built an unrivalled and unparalleled ecosystem and that ecosystem is going to continue to throw disproportionate amounts of value to Apple in the years going forward."

Slumps and blockbusters

Apple's share price has suffered over the last months on the back of the order cutbacks rumours but some investors are saying that they think the company has had its best years. In 2015, people were talking about Apple as the first company to be worth $1tn, but after its stock tumbled, it is a far cry from its peak value in May 2015.

But with its peak at $132 (£92), Apple's share price is a bargain at $99 (£69) in January 2016, according to Goldman Sachs analysts. "We see the current weakness as a buying opportunity, for several reasons: we believe the guide-down is already expected/priced in [and] Apple is a defensive stock relative to the current market sell-off," the analyst said.

For those more pessimistic on Apple, there is only one way the company, led by Tim Cook, could still be saved, if it brings a 'blockbuster' item on the market. The iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus will be released in September 2016, but with Apple working on cars and improving the Apple Watch, it could surprise consumers and investors.