Last week, investors navigated through a fresh batch of earnings releases,
with particular attention being paid to Hewlett-Packard. The Nasdaq initially
benefited from a series of deal reports, "It's a bright spot for the economy
and market because companies are willing to execute, spend money on other
companies and take a chance," said Brian Williamson, equity trader at The
Boston Company Asset Management, to WSJ. Still, the positive merger
aftershocks were short lived, as upbeat earnings and guidance from some tech
stocks were unable to inspire buyers. Within the computers and peripherals
group, Hewlett-Packard posted stronger first-quarter results and backed its
second-quarter outlook. Still, some analysts were disappointed with slower
growth in the firm's imaging and printing group. Also, HP's CEO does not see
"explosive" corporate technology spending. "The Hewlett news follows what
Cisco said a few weeks ago that while things are certainly on a more stable
ground, they are not gangbusters," said Peter Boockvar, equity strategist at
Miller Tabak & Co, to Reuters News. "That continues to temper the enthusiasm
people had going into the earnings season." EMC Corp. said that corporate
spending on technology is improving. Also, Network Appliance witnessed a jump
in its third-quarter results and sees its revenues climbing 25% in the next
fiscal year. Out of the chip space, Applied Materials swung to a quarterly
profit and it, along with Broadcom, boosted guidance for the current quarter.
Separately, Agilent Technologies swung to a profit, although landed beneath
the mean Street estimate. "Even when companies come out with very good
earnings, it doesn't seem to drive them higher after the fact," said Giri
Cherukuri, trader at Oakbrook Investments, to Dow Jones Newswires, "This
earnings season, investors are selling off on good news."
High-Tech Monday Update is provided courtesy of Thomson Financial. This
information is believed to be true and accurate; we take no responsibility for
inaccurate information and reserve the right to update our reports. For more
information, please visit our web site at http://www.thomson.com/financial .
SOURCE Thomson Financial Corporate Group
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