Suppliers’ Big Numbers Bode Well for Apple Earnings

A sign of things to come as we head into earnings season and Apple’s first fiscal quarter on January 24th.

Multi-Fineline Electronix (MFLEX) late Wednesday reported better than expected preliminary revenues, attributing the good news to an improving supply chain situation in Thailand and “an increase in shipments to our largest key customer.”

The customer in question?

It’s widely believed to be Apple, which uses MFLEX’s flexible printed circuit boards in the iPhone and iPad.

MFLEX had been guiding for sales of $200 million to $230 million. The company now sees sales of about $239 million, far above Wall Street’s expectations of $215.6 million.

That bodes well for Apple, which seems poised to report another blow-out quarter this month. As UBS analyst Maynard Um notes, MFLEX’s announcement is one among a number of positive indicators for Apple recently.

Says Um, “[MFLEX’s] results follow better than expected iPhone shipments from Verizon last week, iPhone strength from AT&T last month, Cirrus Logic (analog chips for iPad & iPod) with better results this week and strong December results from Dialog Semi, Catcher (Mac metal casing), TPK (iPad 2 touch panel orders) and Hon Hai stronger iPhone/iPad orders.”