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. 12: Intel Corp. offers an encouraging sign for what the computer industry might expect from the all-important holiday shopping season. The world's biggest maker of microprocessors, the "brains" of PCs, reports that its third-quarter net income leaped 59 percent and revenue rose 18 percent. The results topped analysts' expectations and showed that economic jitters didn't ruin consumers' appetite for new computers during the back-to-school crush.
Oct. 13: Two market-research firms report personal computer sales for the third quarter. The numbers show that Apple Inc.'s iPad has rattled the technology world by causing many consumers to think twice about buying new personal computers.
Oct. 14: Google Inc. reports a 32 percent jump in net income and provides the most persuasive evidence yet that its past investments in display and mobile ads are paying off, helping it diversify away from search advertising.
Advanced Micro Devices Inc. says it narrowed its third-quarter loss slightly, as the chip-maker's remaining stake in factories it spun off last year dragged down the results. Ignoring the baggage from the spinoff, AMD says it would have earned more than Wall Street expected, a sign the company is getting better at squeezing profit out of the remaining business.
Oct. 18: Apple Inc. says net income for the most recent quarter soared 70 percent on strong sales of iPhones. But Wall Street's bar was so high that the fact that it sold more iPads than Macs in the latest quarter wasn't enough to impress investors. Shares fell.
IBM Corp. says its net income rose 12 percent as it wrung more out of its services and software divisions and gets a lift from a new mainframe computer. The technology company also raised its profit forecast slightly for the remainder of the year, demonstrating its skill at increasing profits faster than its businesses are growing.
Oct. 19: Yahoo Inc. reports another quarter of sluggish growth, a performance that may further test the patience of the Internet company's already restless shareholders. Yahoo made some progress on the earnings front, thanks largely to cost-cutting. But revenue for the quarter was up by less than 2 percent, contrasting with a 23 percent revenue increase at Google Inc., which competes against Yahoo for online advertisers.
EMC Corp., the world's No. 1 maker of data-storage computers, says its profit rose 58 percent as spending by corporations continued to recover and the winds of technological change blew in its favor. It also raises its financial forecasts for the rest of the year.
Oct. 20: eBay Inc. says net income climbed 23 percent, helped by its growing PayPal business. The online marketplace operator also predicted results for the current quarter that were better than analysts had been expecting.
Netflix Inc. reports a rare earnings shortfall but says the video subscription service won another horde of new fans in the third quarter. Netflix shares surge as the company says it added 1.9 million subscribers to end the quarter with 16.9 million.
Oct. 21: Xerox Corp. more than doubled its third-quarter profit as sales of office equipment continued to bounce back and its recent acquisition of outsourcer Affiliated Computer Services fueled growth in services revenue. As it looks to wring more cost savings out of the $6 billion ACS deal, Xerox says it plans to eliminate 2,500 jobs, or about 2 percent of its work force.
Amazon.com Inc. reports that net income climbed 16 percent and easily beat analyst expectations. But the Seattle-based company says operating expenses climbed as it increased its ability to fill customer orders.
Oct. 25: Chip-maker Texas Instruments Inc. says third-quarter income soared 60 percent as it continued to satisfy pent-up demand after the recession, but the company expects things to cool down for the rest of the year, as consumer demand is tepid.
Oct. 28: Microsoft Corp. reports earnings that surpass Wall Street's expectations, thanks to a swell of spending by businesses on new computers, software and servers. It's the most recent evidence that corporate spending is back in full swing.
Motorola Inc. says its quarterly revenue rose over the previous year for the first time since 2006, when its Razr phone was still cutting-edge technology. The company's phone division also reports an operating profit for the first time in three years — a quarter earlier than the company had expected. The division is pulling out of a deep dive by betting on smart phones such as the Droid X.
Nov. 1: Corning Inc. says its income jumped 22 percent in the third quarter but it missed Wall Street expectations on lower sales of glass for flat-panel televisions.
Nov. 3: Qualcomm Inc., the developer of chips and technology for cell phones, says results for the latest quarter blew past expectations on strong sales of components for smart phones. The company also forecast results well above expectations in the new quarter.
Among technology companies' earnings coming up:
Wednesday: Cisco Systems Inc.
Nov. 18: Dell Inc.
Nov. 22: Hewlett-Packard Co.
December: Oracle Corp.
