A look at how selected companies providing computers, components, services and related software are faring:
Oct. 17: IBM beat analysts' net income forecasts for the third quarter and raised its earnings outlook for the full year thanks to the success of its software and services businesses. 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. It comes as some analysts fear that corporations and government agencies may spend less on IBM products and services if the economy remains weak.
Oct. 18: Apple Inc. had no new iPhone or iPad release during the quarter. As a result, laptops were Apple's strongest category. Sales were up 30 percent from the previous quarter thanks to the release of a new operating system, Lion. Total Mac sales set an all-time record at 4.9 million.
Intel Corp.'s results offered some comfort for investors jittery about the weak state of the global computer market. Net income rose 17 percent and revenue rose 29 percent, topping Wall Street targets. Intel CEO Paul Otellini credited stronger sales of processors for laptop PCs and servers.
EMC Corp., the world's largest maker of data storage computers, says strong worldwide demand for its cloud computing and data storage products and services contributed to a 28 percent growth in net income.
Oct. 19: Western Digital Corp. says earnings rose 21 percent and revenue rose 12 percent as the maker of hard drives topped Wall Street's forecasts despite a sluggish personal-computer market. The company has warned about a disruption in supply because it had to temporarily close factories in Thailand because of heavy flooding.
Oct. 20: Microsoft Corp.'s Windows franchise regained some of its vigor during the company's latest quarter, the first time Microsoft has posted a year-over-year gain in Windows revenue since the end of 2010. Revenue in the Windows division grew nearly 2 percent to $4.87 billion. The modest gain was slightly below the 3.2 percent to 3.6 percent rise in personal computer shipments during the quarter, based on estimates by Gartner Inc. and IDC.
Hard drive maker Seagate Technology PLC says its first-quarter net income fell, as revenue gains were eaten up by higher interest and other expenses. Seagate has warned of delays because of flooding in Thailand. Although factories there are operational, the company is having difficulty getting some components. It says supply will be constrained the rest of the year, though the magnitude of the disruption is currently unclear.
Oct. 24: Texas Instruments Inc. says net income fell 30 percent as demand weakened. The company says profits were hurt because of costs from using its factories less as it reduced production in response to weaker demand. It also had charges for out-of-date inventory. Those were partially offset by insurance proceeds related to the Japan earthquake in March.
Oct. 25: Xerox Corp. says net income increased 28 percent, helped by 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: Advanced Micro Devices Inc. recorded a profit, reversing a loss a year ago, thanks to strong demand for its chips in laptops and from emerging markets such as China and India. Revenue grew 4 percent despite supply constraints. Last month, AMD cut its outlook for the quarter because of manufacturing problems that prevented AMD from making as many of a new type of chip called "Llano" as it wanted.
Coming up:
Wednesday: Qualcomm Inc.
Nov. 15: Dell Inc.
Nov. 21: Hewlett-Packard Co.
Unscheduled: Lenovo Corp., Nvidia Corp.
