Apple will release its Q3 (or Q2 calendar) financial results on Wednesday after the markets' close through a conference call webcasted live on Apple's web site.

The company is expected to post revenue of between $5.2 and $5.5 billion on about 0.72 cents a share according to analysts' consensus.

Analysts will be awaiting the first figures related to the iPhone's sales for the last quarter during which it was available only for the two last days. Some of them were forecasting initial sales of 500 000 to 700 000 iPhones during the first week-end.

But the first hard numbers came earlier this Tuesday with AT&T"s financial release and they're not as good as expected. According to AT&T, about 143 000 iPhones only were activated during the first two days.

Apple's stock, which had climbed over 50% since the beginning of the year has dropped significantly today on the relatively low figures of iPhone activations.