Apple Q4 2018 earnings expectations

Stephanie Keith | Getty Images

Tim Cook, CEO of Apple laughs while Lana Del Rey (with iPad) takes a photo during a launch event at the Brooklyn Academy of Music on October 30, 2018 in New York City. 

October was a punishing month for technology stocks, but as Apple prepares to report fiscal fourth-quarter results Thursday afternoon, it’s been the mega-cap tech company to make it through this downdraft in the best shape.

Facebook closed down 7.7 percent for the month. Amazon was down 20 percent, its worst month since November 2008. Netflix slid 19.3 percent. Alphabet ended the month down 9.7 percent. And the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index was down 9.2 percent, its steepest drop since November 2008.

Apple largely bucked the trend, finishing October down just 3.1 percent.

If Apple can deliver a strong earnings report, investors will be justified in viewing it as one of the most reliable big tech stocks to own. Netflix may dominate the world of digital entertainment and Amazon is positioned to own cloud computing and retail, but Apple has the most consistent profit engine, thanks to the millions of devices it sells every quarter.

Wall Street analysts are expecting Apple to report revenue of $61.57 billion and earnings per share of $2.78, according to a Refinitiv survey. Analysts are predicting sales of 47.5 million iPhones, 10.53 million iPads and 4.87 million Macs, according to StreetAccount and FactSet.

A big theme will be the rising average selling price (ASP) of the iPhone. If Apple can hit the Street’s estimate for earnings per share, that would mark a 34 percent increase from a year earlier. The days of massive iPhone unit sales growth appear to be over, but Apple has figured out a new formula to squeeze even more profit out of its most important product.