Continue reading Qualcomm Joins the Competition for the Tablet Market

Qualcomm Joins the Competition for the Tablet Market originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 11 Feb 2011 14:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Tech giant Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) held an investors meeting Tuesday afternoon, during which it offered a bullish 2011 forecast.

The company now sees full-year 2011 profit to be in the range of $5.05 to $5.15, better than the $4.99 that analysts had previously forecast for the year.

Revenues are expected to be in a range of $131.5 billion to $133.5 billion, which is also higher than analyst forecasts for $131.4 billion.

Continue reading Hewlett-Packard Sees Strong 2011 Forecast

Hewlett-Packard Sees Strong 2011 Forecast originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 29 Sep 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Hurd Moves to Oracle (ORCL): A New Reason to Buy

Hurd Moves to Oracle (ORCL): A New Reason to Buy originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 07 Sep 2010 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading HP Strikes a Deal for Fortify Software

HP Strikes a Deal for Fortify Software originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 17 Aug 2010 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

After-hours traders punished Dell (DELL) stock Thursday, following a weak third quarter earnings report from the technology giant.

Going into the afternoon earnings release, analysts had been expecting to see the company show earnings of 28 cents per share. Actual earnings came in much lower at 23 cents per share.

Continue reading Dell sells off hard after hours, following weak third quarter earnings

Dell sells off hard after hours, following weak third quarter earnings originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 20 Nov 2009 08:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Windows 7, the latest operating system from Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), is expected to help jumpstart some IT spending. Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) also sees this happening. A new operating system often means a chance to upgrade from dated equipment that isn't worth upgrading, especially with favorable pricing for technology right now. Everything's coming together for a strong 2010 for the high-tech sector, so it's also worth watching Hewlett Packard (NYSE: HPQ), Dell (NASDAQ: DELL) and EMC (NYSE: EMC).

Continue reading Stars aligned for increase in IT spending

Stars aligned for increase in IT spending originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 27 Oct 2009 15:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Economic recovery starts on the ground. So, while it's nice to hear the likes of Stephen Schwarzman celebrate the return of IPOs and hefty exit strategies, the real indications that the economy is turning the corner will come when companies start to open their wallets and spend.

After dealing with only the have-to-haves for a while now, companies can start to make the improvements they've been putting off. Dell (NASDAQ: DELL) CEO Michael Dell sees this happening in the IT space, with companies expected to ramp up their hardware spending aggressively.

Continue reading Dell sees IT spending ready to grow

Dell sees IT spending ready to grow originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 14 Oct 2009 13:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Microsoft's (NASDAQ: MSFT) new operating system, Windows 7, is set to be released on October 22, 2009, but it's unlikely to have an impact on PC prices. So, if you're feeling the urge to rush out and buy a new box, try to hold out until the end of the month. You'll get a bit more life out of it.

Fortunately, PC prices aren't expected to get much lower, so the entire supply chain -- from chips to software -- has nowhere to go but up. The effect, though, has been to put some serious pressure on manufacturers and retailers to keep from screwing up the release.

Continue reading Inventories add pressure to Windows 7 release

Inventories add pressure to Windows 7 release originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 13 Oct 2009 10:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM) has a new champion: Dell (NASDAQ: DELL). The PC manufacturer is promoting the online sales force-enablement platform as a way to gain access to the hefty sums available in the technology services business. The deal would give Salesforce.com access to Dell's clients in the small and medium-sized business categories. Dell would sell Salesforce.com products and provide consulting services to help clients integrate the solution with their other enterprise applications. The dollars and cents of this union weren't disclosed.

Dell sees the margins of the services business and wants a piece of the action, particularly since the PC sector is low margin. Also, sales have been hit pretty hard as a result of the financial crisis. With PCs accounting for 60% of Dell's top-line, a bit of diversity isn't a bad idea. Currently, services account for only around 10% of Dell's sales.

Continue reading Dell promotes Salesforce.com, eager for a taste of consulting cash

Dell promotes Salesforce.com, eager for a taste of consulting cash originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 12 Oct 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Infosys Technologies (NASDAQ: INFY) increased its first quarter profits by 17% by tapping new markets and wrangling in 27 new clients, according to the Financial Times. The second-largest software services exporter in India, Infosys even scored some major clients, such as Waitrose, a top-shelf food retailer in the United Kingdom. Tough economic conditions can tend to favor companies that provide outsourcing services -- as well as consulting services with high, easily justifiable returns on investments (ROIs).

Nonetheless, this is a competitive space, and Infosys did caution that IBM (NYSE: IBM), Accenture (NYSE: ACN) and Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) will be formidable global foes. With the announcement, Infosys increased the lower end of its forecast for the year, expecting revenues to fall in the $4.45 billion to $4.52 billion range.

Continue reading Infosys profits up 17%, long-term looks great

Infosys profits up 17%, long-term looks great originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 10 Jul 2009 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Hewlett-Packard Q2 earnings preview

Hewlett-Packard Q2 earnings preview originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 19 May 2009 12:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Acer sees 31% profit slump as netbooks lead the way

Acer sees 31% profit slump as netbooks lead the way originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 30 Apr 2009 15:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

"What can get this market going again?" asks Chuck Carlson. In The DRIP Investor he says, "It's helpful to understand what stocks within the Dow need to do well for the index to do well."

"Not surprisingly, IBM (NYSE: IBM), the highest-priced stock in the Dow, carries the greatest weighting at more than 9% of the index. Obviously, with such a heavy weighting in the index, IBM will need to be a decent performer for the Dow to do well going forward.

"And when you total up the exposure of IBM with the other tech stocks in the Dow - Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), Intel (NASDAQ: INTC), and Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) - the total tech weighting in the Dow is 16%. Thus, tech stocks matter to the Dow, so it is diffcult to see the Dow sustaining a move upward without a nice rebound in the tech sector.

Continue reading What will move the Dow? A look inside the average

What will move the Dow? A look inside the average originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 06 Mar 2009 15:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Circuit City impact will be deeply felt

Circuit City impact will be deeply felt originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 04 Feb 2009 19:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Laptop PCs outsell Desktop PCs for first time ever originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 29 Dec 2008 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

What started as a pricking of the speculative bubble in housing became a wake up call for the dangers of too much debt. We are full bore in crisis mode and, yet, if you really look at it all, things are not that bad. Yes, your portfolio may be down 40% or more, but most of you still have jobs and interest rates are still very low. Bad as this has been, it could be much worse.

Despite the recent news that Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) expects first-quarter profits, ending Jan. 31, 2009, to meet or beat current expectations, most companies dare not provide any guidance as the train wreck economy makes it difficult at best to predict sales and revenue.

That certainly is the case at Macy's (NYSE: M). Today, the large department store leader announced third-quarter profit ending Nov. 1 that missed expectations by a wide margin. Macy's lost $42.8 million, or 31 cents per share.

This should come as no surprise, but unfortunately analyst estimates were way off the mark. They were expecting a loss of three cents on higher revenue.

Going forward, the company is in self-preservation mode. Macy's is reducing capital expenditures to $75 million in fiscal 2009, down from the $125 budget for the current year.

The question for M is, can it survive a period of multiple quarters of losses? With $10 billion of debt on the balance sheet, the company has some serious issues to resolve in 2009.

Continue reading The parade will go on, buy Macy's (M)!

The parade will go on, buy Macy's (M)! originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 19 Nov 2008 14:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Hewlett-Packard reports strong Q3 earnings on global shipments originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 20 Aug 2008 09:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

HP overtakes IBM in global server sales in 1Q 2008 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 27 May 2008 13:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

• Lowe's Companies (NYSE: LOW) to report Q1 earnings; conference call scheduled for 9:00am.
• Campbell Soup Company (NYSE: CPB) to report Q3 earnings; Conference call scheduled for 10:00am.

• Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing on Global Internet Freedom & Corporate Responsibilty at 10:00am. Appearing: Google, Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG), Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) and Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO).
• Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE: MDT) to report Q4 earnings; conference call scheduled for 8:00am.
• Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE: HPQ) to report Q2 earnings; conference call scheduled for 5:00pm.

Continue reading Market highlights for next week: Lowe's, Hewlett-Packard reporting earnings

Market highlights for next week: Lowe's, Hewlett-Packard reporting earnings originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 16 May 2008 17:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Smith & Nephew (NYSE: SNN) was cut to Underweight from Neutral at JP Morgan, citing deteriorating fundamentals in several of SNN's key business lines.
  
• Goldman removed British Sky Broadcasting (NYSE: BSY) from its Conviction Buy List and said shares continue to trade at all-time low multiples and that the timing with Sky-Virgin dispute remains unclear. Shares remain Buy rated.
  
• Friedman Billings downgraded Electronic Data Systems (NYSE: EDS) to Market Perform from Outperform based on valuation following the Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) news.

• Goldman downgraded J Sainsbury (OTC: JSAIY) to Neutral from Buy and removed shares from the Conviction Buy List.
  
• Goldman also removed Hewlett-Packard from its Conviction Buy List.
  
• Citigroup cut BearingPoint (NYSE: BE) to Hold from Buy.
  
• Wachovia downgraded LHC Group (NASDAQ: LHCG) to Market Perform from Outperform.

Analyst downgrades: SNN, BSY, JSAIY, BE, LHCG and EDS originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 13 May 2008 11:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.