More Videos
- HP's Shot Across Cisco's Bow
- Back Off, Regulators!
- iPhone, App Strategy the 'New Dot Com?'
- Cisco Jumps; Rest of Market to Follow?
- Call It 'Microsoft Math'
- Intel in the Anti-Trust Crosshairs, but Why?
- Apple Apps—Now More Than 100K
- WoW Fights New Front in China
- Smart Phone Competition Heats Up. Again.
- A Tale of Two Smart Phone Makers
MOST SHARED
- Hewlett-Packard to Acquire 3Com for $2.7 Billion in Cash
- How the Droid and Google Threaten the GPS Makers
- Dollar Trouble, Oil's Bubble Could Derail Recovery
- USC Football Blog Leads All-Access Space
- Addicted to Easy Money?
- Shopping for Answers
- HPQ to Acquire 3Com
- Credit Is Thawing, But Businesses Still Hesitant to Borrow
- This Town Will Pay YOU $10,000 to Buy a House
- What to Expect From Disney Earnings?
- HP's Shot Across Cisco's Bow
- USC Football Blog Leads All-Access Space
- Clowning Around At Work
- Ahead of Earnings Disney Restructures Studio
- Nov. 11: Unusual Volume Leaders
- 3 'Clear Sailing' Mid-Caps For Investors: Strategist
- Intimate Apparel Sales Heating Up: Maidenform CEO
- A Day On The USS Harry S. Truman
- Highest State Foreclosure Rates
- Yuan Critics Want Obama to Keep Campaign Promise
- Dollar Trouble, Oil's Bubble Could Derail Recovery
- Jobless, Wal-Mart to Drive Sentiment on Thursday
- Hewlett-Packard to Acquire 3Com for $2.7 Billion in Cash
- AIG CEO: I Remain 'Totally Committed' to Firm
- CNN Anchor Lou Dobbs Says He is Leaving Network
- A Day on the USS Harry S. Truman
- How the Droid and Google Threaten the GPS Makers
TECH CHECK VIDEO
RSS FEED
Tech Check
Text Size 
Alcoa [AA
Loading...
()
]may have kicked off earnings season last week, but this week, the biggest names in the tech sector take center stage: Intel and IBM tomorrow: eBay Wednesday; Microsoft and Google [GOOG
Loading...
()
]on Thursday. There are others of course, but these four will steal the lion's share of attention.
For Intel[INTC
Loading...
()
] tomorrow, analysts expect a pretty solid second quarter for the world's largest chipmaker. The company is wiping the microprocessor floor with rival Advanced Micro Devices [AMD
Loading...
()
](set to report Thursday, but pre-announcing more staggering charges and what appears to be a deepening financial morass last week). Intel unveiled its latest laptop chips today, code-named Montevina, but essentially Centrino II. Low-power, HDTV on your laptop, WiMax on board. Cool stuff that shows innovation and Moore's Law are both still alive and well in Santa Clara, Calif. Intel will also celebrate its 40th anniversary on Thursday.
Analysts are looking for 25 cents on $9.32 billion. The other key metric: gross margins. The Street expects 56 percent, and fairly lackluster guidance--both already baked into shares.
As we get closer through the week, I'll go deeper into each of these issues, but one thing seems clear; one trend seems to apply to all these specific names, except maybe eBay[EBAY
Loading...
()
]: when this recover in the economy takes hold, these are the names that will likely enjoy the dividends first. We've already seen an uptick in PC growth, good for both Intel and Microsoft. IBM [IBM
Loading...
()
]has been soaring for much of the year because worries about a collapse in enterprise spending might have been overblown.
And that's good for Microsoft [MSFT
Loading...
()
]as well, even though it faces continuing challenges with Vista, already well-documented, as has the company's ongoing takeover saga with Yahoo[YHOO
Loading...
()
]. Color on both is expected Thursday on the conference call, if not before.
As far as eBay is concerned: I'm still concerned over the shifting market place that seems to give Amazon.com [AMZN
Loading...
()
]a leg up; and while recession worries have shoppers continuing to bargain-hunt, Amazon and its pack-and-ship model still seems more compelling than eBay's hodge-podge of auctions. Still, PayPal still seems strong, and if eBay can increase margins and show some growth in Gross Merchandise Volume and listings, that could be a surprising boost to shares. Otherwise, eBay runs the risk of dead money, at least for awhile.
And of course, we'll have complete coverage all week long, here, and on the air. Check back soon!
Questions? Comments?
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes