Apple Inc is expected to report a profit for its second fiscal quarter on Wednesday that will top the company's usually conservative guidance but the stock has been on a roller coaster the past two days as investors react to differing analysts' views.

A poll of Wall Street analysts expects to see a net income of $1.07 for the quarter, up from 87 cents a year earlier, according to Reuters Estimates. Revenue is expected to rise to $6.95 billion. In January, Apple predicted earnings of 94 cents per share for the quarter on 6.8 billion in revenue.

The majority of analysts are expecting strong results from Apple. Thomson Financial's poll of analysts ahead of earning indicates that 24 of 29 analysts covering the stock rate it as a buy, with four holding a neutral rating. One carries a sell.

Among the highest expectations are those of Citigroup analyst Richard Gardner, who on Monday said he expects net income of $1.23 per share on $7 billion in revenue. Gardner has a $212 target price for the stock. On Monday, RBC analyst Mike Abramsky raised his target price to $190 from $175, rating the stock as outperform.

ShareS of rose by several percentage points on Monday following the reports. However jitters among investors wiped out those gains on Tuesday after American Technologies analyst Shaw Wu cut his rating for the stock to neutral, sending shares of Apple tumbling. They fell $7.96, or 4.73 percent on today to close at $160.20.

The Cupertino-California's is also expected to report on sales figures for its major products, including Macintosh computers, iPods music players and iPhone devices.

Analysts are predicting sales hovering around 10 million iPods. American Technology Research Analyst Shaw Wu expects sales of 10 million. Caris & Co. analyst Shebly Seyrafi expects 9 million in sales. Gardner expects 9.5 million in sales

Ipod sales are expected to range between 9.5 million and 11 million units, according to a study by Gartner Research.

Apple had predicted it could sell 10 million iPhones in 2008. A group of four analysts' estimates revealed predictions between 1.4 million and 1.8 million iphones, according to Reuters.

Shares of Apple fell $7.96, or 4.73 percent on Tuesday to close at $160.20.

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