Here is a summary of recent earnings and reports for selected technology companies and what they reveal about the state of spending and the overall economy:
Oct. 13: Google Inc. says third-quarter earnings grew 26 percent and revenue grew 33 percent from last year. It's the latest reminder of how the company has used its dominance on the Internet to build a business that weathers economic turbulence better than most companies. Mounting worries about another global recession haven't shaken the Internet's search and advertising leader so far.
Oct. 17: IBM Corp. raised its full-year guidance again, offering fresh evidence of the company's ability to wring profit from technology services and software contracts. However, IBM slightly missed on the revenue forecast, reviving questions about the company's ability to bring in enough new business to fuel its expected growth.
Oct. 18: Apple Inc. failed to set a new sales record, and its financial results came in below expectations — a rare miss for the company. After several record quarters, the period saw Apple biding its time, with no new iPhone or iPad releases. Still, earnings and revenue rose from last year at rates that would be the envy of any large company.
Intel Corp. topped Wall Street's targets as net income rose 17 percent and revenue rose 29 percent. Intel CEO Paul Otellini credited stronger sales of processors for laptop PCs and servers. The results offered some comfort for investors jittery about the weak state of the global computer market. Intel also offered strong revenue guidance for the all-important holiday fourth quarter.
Yahoo Inc.'s third-quarter results showed little evidence of ending the financial funk that got former CEO Carol Bartz fired last month. Yahoo's net income fell 26 percent from last year. The performance may increase pressure on Yahoo to sell itself in parts or as a whole.
EMC Corp., the world's largest maker of data storage computers, says its third-quarter net income grew 28 percent, thanks to strong worldwide demand for its cloud computing and data storage products and services.
Oct. 19: eBay Inc.'s third-quarter net income climbed 14 percent, as its namesake site and PayPal online payment service continued to show healthy growth — more of which is coming from consumers shopping and transferring funds using the company's smartphone and tablet apps.
Oct. 20: Microsoft Corp.'s earnings for the latest quarter increased 6 percent. The results for the July-September period were highlighted by revived growth in the division that includes the software maker's Windows franchise. It's the first time that Microsoft has posted a year-over-year gain in Windows revenue since the end of 2010.
Nokia Corp. narrowed its losses even though its smartphone sales continued to suffer in the face of stiff competition from Apple Inc.'s iPhone. Finland's biggest company reported a third-quarter net loss of €68 million ($94 million). Though that's a big reverse from last year's equivalent profit of €529 million, it represented an improvement on the second quarter's €368 million loss.
Oct. 24: Netflix Inc.'s third-quarter earnings rose 65 percent, but it suffered the biggest customer losses in its history. Netflix triggered a backlash by raising prices as much as 60 percent in the U.S. and bungling an attempt to spin off its DVD-by-mail rental service. The company ended September with 23.8 million U.S. subscribers, down about 800,000 from June. Management expects to gain U.S. subscribers in the current quarter, although Netflix didn't set a specific target.
Texas Instruments Inc. reports a 30 percent drop in net income as demand weakened. The company says it incurred costs from using its factories less because of reduced production, and it had charges for out-of-date inventory. The company says the fourth quarter will also be weak because of economic uncertainty. The company also had expenses related to its purchase of National Semiconductor.
Oct. 25: Amazon.com Inc.'s third-quarter net income fell 73 percent despite revenue growth as Amazon built sales fulfillment centers at a rapid clip. That spending on expansion will eventually help its bottom line, but right now it's costing the online retailer on Wall Street.
Xerox Corp. saw a 28 percent increase in net income, thanks to higher revenue from services such as document outsourcing. The company bought outsourcer Affiliated Computer Services for $6 billion last year so it could expand lucrative service offerings. Its traditional printer and copier business had suffered during the recession as companies cut back on spending.
Oct. 27: Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc., which makes cellphones and cable set-top boxes, says its third-quarter loss narrowed as it shipped more phones than it did a year earlier. The company shipped 11.6 million phones during the quarter, 27 percent more than a year earlier. The latest quarter included 4.8 million smartphones, up 26 percent.
Motorola Solutions Inc., which sells communications equipment to government and corporate customers, reports results that beat analyst expectations as revenue rose in its two main businesses.
Advanced Micro Devices Inc. reports a third-quarter profit, reversing a loss, thanks to strong demand for its chips in laptops and from emerging markets such as China and India.
Coinstar Inc.'s says its quarterly earnings nearly doubled as its Redbox kiosks for renting DVDs attracted movie lovers irked by recent price increases at Netflix's video subscription service. The company announced its own price increase effective Oct. 31 — to $1.20 per day, instead of $1.
Nov. 2: Qualcomm Inc., a chip-maker for mobile phones, reports stronger-than-expected quarterly results driven by rising smartphone demand. The company says it benefited particularly from demand in emerging markets and in third-generation, or 3G, phones — the common type available today.
Nov. 9: Cisco Systems Inc. shows signs of pulling a turnaround, exceeding analyst sales expectations for the second quarter in a row. Sales growth was broad and included a recovery in orders from U.S. government customers that had held off during the debt stand-off this summer. Cisco says orders grew through the quarter, just as it had in previous years, hinting at an economic environment that was relatively healthy. For the quarter that just started, Cisco expects revenue growth of 7 percent to 8 percent over last year. Analysts were expecting 7 percent rate.
Coming up:
Tuesday: Dell Inc.
Nov. 21: Hewlett-Packard Co.
