Wall Street expects $51B in revenue, record 47.8M iPhone sales from Apple's Sept. quarter

Investors are eagerly awaiting the results of Apple's September quarter, due to be reported next Tuesday, in which it's expected Apple will report record sales of 47.8 million iPhones.

Market consensus estimates were shared in a research note on Friday by analyst Gene Munster of Piper Jaffray. In general, investors expect Apple will report revenue of $51 billion and gross margins about 39.3 percent for the three-month period.

As for the iPhone numbers, sales of 47.8 million units would easily exceed the 39 million units Apple sold in the same quarter a year ago.

Wall Street is also expecting sales of 5.7 million Macs and 10.5 million iPads for the period. In comparison, Apple sold 5.5 million Macs and 12.3 million iPads in the September 2014 quarter.

Munster's own estimates are slightly higher: He expects revenue as high as $51.5 billion and margins of 39.5 percent, with sales of between 48 million and 49 million iPhones.

Looking forward to the December quarter, Munster said that most investors expect that iPhone sales will actually be slightly down year over year. The analyst, however, said he doesn't agree with that assessment.

"We continue to believe that the iPhone 6s cycle will not be as bad as investors expect," he said, projecting that iPhone sales will grow 2 percent year over year in the holiday quarter.

All will be revealed next Tuesday, after markets close in the U.S., when Apple will report its September quarter results. AppleInsider will have full coverage.