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Posted
Jul 21 2009, 03:52 AM
by
Douglas McIntyre
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
Wall Street analysts expect Apple’s earnings to do better than estimates. This is not surprising. Apple (AAPL) has a history of setting low expectations about its figures and then beating them handily. It has become a game of chess between the company and experts who follow it.
Some analysts tracking the company go so far as to send people to Apple stores and other retailers to count how products are selling. Others check with companies that supply components to Apple for its products like the iPhone and Mac to gauge demand.
Apple’s results should be pulled down by the same gravity that has hurt the consumer electronics and PC markets. The relentless slowing of the economy has made both individual and business purchasers of computers slow to upgrade their hardware. The Apple iPhone is more expensive than most other handsets. A recession is hardly a good time to overpay for a phone.
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Posted
Nov 20 2007, 08:36 AM
by
Kim Peterson
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
For now, at least, Hewlett-Packard is immune from the financial turmoil that's hit other sectors. The company posted some impressive earnings yesterday at a time when other tech giants are being hit by the mortgage crisis. Strong notebook sales contributed to the good news.
Part of the reason is that HP is somewhat isolated from the financial services sector, unlike Cisco Systems, which counts banks among its top 20 customers. But HP wants that kind of business. CEO Mark Hurd said yesterday that the company wants more exposure to financial services. "We see that as a big opportunity for us," he said.
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Posted
May 28 2009, 04:42 PM
by
Catherine Holahan
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
When Hewlett-Packard CEO Mark Hurd discussed the sad state of business IT spending last week, he seemed like a buzz kill amidst otherwise upbeat investors. Now, in light of today's earning report from Dell, he seems like an optimist.
Dell reported revenues of $12.34 billion for the quarter ending May 1 -- a 23% decline from the same period last year. The number was about $320 million less than Wall Street consensus estimates. Earnings declined a whopping 63% due, in part, to costs incurred in reorganizing the business
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Posted
Feb 28 2008, 04:09 AM
by
Robert Walberg
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
Like the former high-school baseball star in the Springsteen song, Michael Dell knows how glory days can pass you by in the wink of a young girl's eye. His company, Dell, delivered yet another earnings disappointment last night. The former king of the PC industry cited higher-than-expected costs for the earnings shortfall. The excuse may be new but falling short of estimates has become old hat to Dell.
Not that long ago, Dell rode its cheap cost structure, build-to-order model and aggressive market campaign to the top of theh PC world. But after years of management missteps, the company finds itself looking up at Hewlett-Packard much the way General Motors finds itself trailing Toyota. About the only category in which Dell surpasses HP these days is in restructuring announcements. According to Mr. Dell, the current plan, which calls for more staff reductions and improved operating efficiencies, is apt to adversely impact near-term earnings growth. No kidding.
But I'll tell you what the restructuring plan isn't going to do -- it's not going to resolve the company's long-term problem any more than the dozen or so turnaround efforts have resurrected GM. And the reasons are much the same -- both management teams are too focused on the bottom-line and not focused enough on the big picture. Dell's problem isn't that the call center in Canada is overstaffed, it's that the company no longer possesses a significant cost advantage over the competition. Dell was never a very innovative company -- its strength was in the cost savings produced by the model. That cost benefit doesn't exist any more and simply adding new channels to sell product that's priced about the same as Toshiba, Acer and HP just isn't going to get it done.
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Posted
Feb 20 2009, 03:00 AM
by
Andrew Horowitz
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
 Judging from many of today's corporate financial press releases, it's difficult to imagine that any company is suffering in this economy. Carefully chosen words and phrases such as "record earnings," "best quarter in history," "upbeat outlook" and "better than expected" are all expertly placed to put a positive spin on the news. Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) is the latest example, adding a new way of providing earnings's guidance: simply re-affirm positive earnings per share and revenue guidance and then deal with the potential problems of a weak economy later.
-- Download your FREE copy of Andrew's book, The Disciplined Investor through February 20, 2009 --
Since many corporate communication plans may be designed to confound and confuse, it is important that you understand how to read between the lines.
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Posted
Oct 14 2008, 09:55 AM
by
Kim Peterson
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
There's no recession in Mac land. Apple introduced its new line of notebooks today, and the bottom price point is disappointing. The cheapest MacBook will cost $999. So much for the company getting into the sub-$1,000 notebook market.
Apple shares are slumping today in response.
We heard a lot of talk about Apple introducing an $800 or $900 laptop, and analysts crunched the numbers and found the company would dramatically increase its potential market by doing so. Slashing prices would eat into Apple's margins, but Apple prepared us for this by saying its gross margin would fall by nearly 5% to 30% in the next fiscal year.
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Posted
Nov 24 2008, 08:45 AM
by
Kim Peterson
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
 Cisco Systems and Hewlett-Packard are turning out the lights in December, forcing employees into paid time off to save money. Cisco will shut down its offices from Dec. 29 through Jan. 2, and is "strongly" encouraging workers to also stay home for three days before Christmas, according to an internal memo obtained by Valleywag.
Company-funded parties are out. The memo asks workers to celebrate in "creative ways that result in no cost to the company." Hey, how about making Christmas ornaments with leftover toilet paper rolls?
Cisco is also cutting back on hiring and employee travel. And it's carefully reviewing spending on equipment, employee training, big purchases and outside services.
Memos like these are popping up at companies from coast to coast.
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Posted
Jun 05 2008, 01:57 AM
by
Kim Peterson
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
Worst executive job in technology? Head of Motorola's cell phone unit -- an open position the Wall Street Journal says could be filled soon. Why so bad? Oh, let us count the ways: 1. The unit has lost $1.6 billion in 18 months. 2. Most of the senior management has bailed.
3. The Street hates the division, valuing it at just $1 per share.
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Posted
Sep 29 2008, 11:32 AM
by
Kim Peterson
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
Tech stocks are getting killed today, with Apple falling a shocking 16% to $107.17. That's because there's a lot of talk going around about how the current economic turmoil might squash demand for electronics, both at the consumer and the big business level. On the business side, analysts are worried that Hewlett-Packard and Dell could suffer as companies rein in spending. H-P shares are down 5% today to $45.50 and Dell shares have dropped 4% to $16.28. On the consumer side, Google hit a two-year low and is down 9% to $392.99.
Apple fell to a 52-week low after analysts downgraded the stock. A Morgan Stanley analyst thinks that people will shift to the sub-$1,000 price range for computer purchases, and Apple only has one computer in that range.
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Posted
Dec 01 2008, 08:56 AM
by
Kim Peterson
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
Apple slashed some prices for Black Friday, but not any more drastically than it has in the past. Yet another sign that the company thinks it's going to cruise through the holiday season. And Apple has good reason to be confident. Analysts are pessimistic about retail sales in general, but note that Apple's seeing great sales so far -- the iPod Touch was even out of stock at Amazon, which normally has enough iPods on hand to fill a football stadium. That's causing optimism to bubble that even in this dour shopping climate, Apple, at least, is going to have a solid holiday quarter. A Kaufman Bros. analyst checked with distributors and stores and found that Apple had strong Black Friday foot traffic. Another analyst did the same thing and thinks sales were even up slightly from last year.
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