Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They
AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e
BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German
Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who
By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an
My Profile
Top News
Reuters top ten news stories delivered to your inbox each day.
Subscribe
You are here:
Home
>
News
>
Technology
>
Article
Home
Business & Finance
News
U.S.
Politics
International
Technology
Internet
Entertainment
Sports
Lifestyle
Oddly Enough
Environment
Health
Science
Special Coverage
Video
Pictures
Your View
The Great Debate
Blogs
Weather
Reader Feedback
Do More With Reuters
RSS
Widgets
Mobile
Podcasts
Newsletters
Your View
Make Reuters My Homepage
Partner Services
CareerBuilder
Affiliate Network
Professional Products
Support (Customer Zone)
Reuters Media
Financial Products
About Thomson Reuters
Cost cuts help tech giants ride out weak economy
Thu Apr 23, 2009 7:42pm EDT
Email | Print |
Share
| Reprints | Single Page
[-]
Text
[+]
By Gabriel Madway
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A solid crop of earnings reports from the leading lights of technology suggests the sector is proving adept at cost cuts and more resilient to the economic meltdown than previously thought.
While executives from Apple Inc, Google Inc, IBM and Intel Corp were almost uniformly cautious in talking about the rest of the year, they all reported quarterly profits that beat Wall Street expectations.
Microsoft Corp's earnings on Thursday were in line with forecasts, but investors sent its shares higher in part because of cost cuts that the world's largest software maker is undertaking to protect its bottom line.
With corporate and consumer spending under pressure, analysts say many tech companies moved swiftly to slash jobs and output -- positioning themselves for growth when a bottom is reached, which some say may have happened already.
"It does look like tech might very well lead us out of the recessionary market," said Enderle Group analyst Rob Enderle. "They are structured to respond more quickly and they've demonstrated they can."
Although the results were not necessarily strong on a historical basis and the outlook for the economy remains extremely uncertain, analysts see positive signs for the sector.
Technology shares have been surging, with the Morgan Stanley Hi-Tech index of major tech stocks up more than 30 percent since early March.
While a rally may prove difficult to sustain, analysts say the prospects are better for an IT recovery because tech products and services are integral to the day-to-day functioning of the global economy and people's lives.
"Everybody's taking big cuts in their budgets, but a lot of tech spend is not so variable," said M. Eric Johnson, director of the Center for Digital Strategies at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. "A lot of their spending needs to and has to occur even in a downturn."
He said the recession in some ways has benefited information technology service providers like IBM, as corporations have moved to outsourcing.
IBM reported an 11 percent drop in revenue, which was weaker than expected, but higher margins helped its profit beat analysts' forecasts.
There were other encouraging signals in major tech earnings reports. Apple's earnings topped Wall Street forecasts as consumers showed they were still willing to spend on premium devices such as iPhones and iPods even in a tough economy.
Google's and Intel's results also beat expectations, thanks to cost discipline. Intel Chief Executive Paul Otellini declared the worst is over for the PC market, a message echoed by disk drive maker Seagate Technology, but Microsoft Chief Financial Officer Chris Liddell said he saw no sign the bottom had been reached.
Positive signs also emerged from earnings reports from chipmaker Texas Instruments and flash memory maker SanDisk.
"Things at least seem to have stopped falling," said Barry Jaruzelski, a partner at consulting firm Booz & Co. He said the key is in how enterprise IT spending plays out. Continued...
View article on single page
Share:
Del.icio.us
Digg
Mixx
Yahoo!
Facebook
LinkedIn
Next Article:
Nokia CEO: too early to call bottom of phone demand
also on reuters
Blog: Bought a bank? Better tell its customers
Recession, health concerns get Americans gardening
Video
Video: "Bling bikini" defies credit crisis
More Technology News
Microsoft cuts costs, says Windows 7 on track
| Video
IBM plans cloud computing services for 2009
Yahoo pulls the plug on GeoCities
Nokia CEO: too early to call bottom of phone demand
MySpace co-founder DeWolfe to step down
More Technology News...
Editor's Choice
Slideshow
A selection of our best photos from the past 24 hours. Slideshow
Most Popular on Reuters
Articles
Video
Jay Leno misses first "Tonight Show" in 17 years
Seven people in U.S. hit by strange new swine flu
Clinton says Israel risks losing support on Iran
Japan aghast over drunk TV star's naked blunder
INSTANT VIEW: Microsoft profit in line; Windows 7 on track
Jamaican army deployed ahead of tax increase
Bra deflects bullet aimed at woman
UPDATE 2-Fontainebleau Las Vegas banks terminate loan
Cost cuts help tech giants ride out weak economy
Country aghast over drunk TV star's naked blunder
Most Popular Articles RSS Feed
Video
"Best job" a marketers dream
IMF: Economic crisis far from over
Business Update: Britain's Budget
Bloodshed in Iraq
Wildfire hits U.S. beach town
"Bling bikini" defies credit crisis
GM cuts, but the clock ticks
Freddie Mac acting CFO dead
More labor pains in U.S.
Paraguay's presidential scandal
Most Popular Videos RSS Feed
Reuters Deals
The global destination for corporate leaders, deal-makers and innovators
Knowledge to Act
Reuters.com:
Help and Contact Us |
Advertise With Us |
Mobile |
Newsletters |
RSS |
Interactive TV |
Labs |
Archive |
Site Index |
Video Index
Thomson Reuters Corporate:
Copyright |
Disclaimer |
Privacy |
Professional Products |
Professional Products Support |
About Thomson Reuters |
Careers
International Editions:
Africa |
Arabic |
Argentina |
Brazil |
Canada |
China |
France |
Germany |
India |
Italy |
Japan |
Latin America |
Mexico |
Russia |
Spain |
United Kingdom |
United States
Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.
NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.