Apple Aims for $100 Assault

It won't be a complete surprise to Wall Street to see another quarter of earnings and revenue upside from Apple (AAPL Quote) on Wednesday. A report of hefty holiday iPod sales is likely to deliver another nudge to a stock that closed at an all-time high Tuesday.

Apple, which reports its fiscal first-quarter earnings after the closing bell, has seen its shares take a volatile ride over the past few months.

The stock fell more than 10% in December, but sharply rebounded after Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveiled the company's new iPhone -- as well as Apple TV, a device that plays PC-generated videos and music over home entertainment systems -- to the Mac faithful at an annual gathering last week.

Still, the news that Cisco (CSCO Quote) is suing the company for allegedly violating Cisco's iPhone trademark, as well as reports that federal authorities are zeroing in on a grant of 7.5 million stock options to Jobs, weighed on the highflying shares just before the holiday weekend.

On Tuesday, however, investors seemed to want a piece of a possible post-earnings bump. Shares of the Cupertino, Calif., company closed up 2.6% to $97.10.

The first quarter is typically the strongest for Apple, thanks to holiday sales. In 2006, its December-quarter sales represented about 30% of the company's annual revenue.

For the quarter, the average analyst estimate from a survey by Thomson First Call pegs Apple for a profit of 78 cents a share and revenue of $6.42 billion.