Find Live Coverage of Apple's Key Earnings Report

Investors may listen with concern today when Apple Computer reports its fourth quarter earnings at 2 p.m. today.

Although up for the year, the company's stock has been falling since mid September, and some analysts think that will continue. Some even worry that Apple, which is the largest publicly traded company in the world by market capitalization, could drag the whole stock market down.

Here's a report from Reuters writer Rodrigo Campos:

Apple Inc seems to still be the drug of choice for consumers of all stripes looking for sleek gadgetry. But traders are starting to doubt the hype, and the stock's technicals are painting a bleak picture ahead of Apple's earnings due Thursday.

And here's a CNET report:

Savvy consumers, who have gotten wise to Apple's annual product upgrade and are expecting a new model this fall, may have held back on purchasing an iPhone during the quarter. That happened in the quarter that followed Apple's typical iPhone launch period last year with the belated iPhone 4S, which led to Apple missing Wall Street's estimates. In a research note last week, Toni Sacconaghi, of Bernstein Research, suggested that the very same thing could happen once again, but that sales of the device may not be the only thing to blame.

"We see a reasonable probability that Apple will miss consensus revenue expectations due to macro-economic weakness in China and Europe, a product cycle lull in the iPhone, a later than expected introduction of the new iPad into China, and the late quarter introduction of new Mac notebooks," Sacconaghi wrote. All that could lead up to earnings of $10.24 on revenue of $35.5 billion, he added.