Meanwhile, it's nice to know that while the Amurkn people are hurting, globalist businesses are CLEANING UP ($$$$).
"I.B.M. Meets Expectations With a Solid Third Quarter" by STEVE LOHR
I.B.M. reported solid quarterly sales and profits yesterday, matching Wall Street’s expectations, as the performance of its big services business offset weakness in hardware and software.
The housing-related debt woes in the banking industry did hit International Business Machines in the third quarter, however. Financial services companies are among I.B.M.’s largest customers, and they pulled back from buying mainframe computers and large software packages at the end of the quarter.
I.B.M. is a bellwether for corporate spending on information technology — computer hardware, software and services. Investors watch the company’s quarterly results closely for signs that capital investment may be flagging, as troubles in the banking sector threaten to slow down the economy as a whole.
But Mark Loughridge, I.B.M.’s chief financial officer, said there was little evidence of a spillover from the mortgage debt crisis. “It was a financial services issue and predominantly in the United States,” Mr. Loughridge said in a conference call with analysts after stock trading closed for the day. “I don’t think this is a general economic issue.”
Mr. Loughridge said that technology purchases delayed in the third quarter would most likely be made in the current quarter, suggesting that the banking industry’s problems would be contained and temporary.
Yet some analysts said I.B.M.’s results, while an encouraging performance by the company, left lingering doubts about the outlook for technology spending. Leading indicators of a slowdown in technology spending, according to A. M. Sacconaghi, an analyst for Sanford C. Bernstein & Company, are found in three places: signings of short-term services contracts, software license revenue and hardware purchases.
All three of those indicators were down for I.B.M. Signings of short-term contracts, those that typically last nine months or less, fell from a year ago — the only blemish in a strong performance by the services business. Software revenue rose 7 percent, to $4.7 billion, but a number of larger software deals did not close as expected during the quarter.Hardware sales fell 10 percent, to $4.9 billion, in the quarter; mainframe revenue alone dropped 31 percent.
I.B.M. reported that its revenue rose to $24.1 billion in the third quarter, an increase of 7 percent from the year-earlier quarter — or 3 percent after adjusting for currency gains because of the dollar’s weakness.
About 60 percent of the company’s sales are outside the United States.
[That's why they are growing!]
Growth was robust in fast-growing markets where I.B.M. has made big investments in recent years, including India, where sales rose 48 percent, and China, up 25 percent.
I.B.M.’s net income rose 6 percent from a year earlier, to $2.4 billion. Earnings rose 16 percent, to $1.68 a share, up from $1.45 a year ago, when I.B.M. had more shares outstanding. Like many companies, I.B.M. has an aggressive share repurchase program.
The company’s revenues were in line with analysts’ estimates, as compiled by Thomson Financial, and earnings came in a penny above the consensus forecast of $1.67 a share.
I.B.M. said it was comfortable with the estimates of Wall Street analysts for the full year of 2007, which are for revenue of $97.4 billion and earnings of $6.97 a share.
I.B.M.’s shares fell slightly in after-hours trading. During the regular session, I.B.M. gained $1.57 a share, or 1.3 percent, to close at $119.60 a share.
The services business continues to get stronger, with revenue rising 14 percent, to nearly $13.7 billion. I.B.M.’s services business includes such activities as running data centers for customers and using technology and research to streamline corporate operations like procurement and marketing."
[You happy yet, Amurkn shit-eater?
They take your home, yet?
O.K, then, eat this!]
"Intel, Buoyed by Quarter, Offers an Upbeat Outlook" by LAURIE J. FLYNN
SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 16 — Intel cheered investors on Tuesday when it reported better-than-expected quarterly sales and a 43 percent increase in profit on strong worldwide demand for personal computers.
Intel, which raised its forecast for the third quarter last month, also benefited from a reorganization and various new products after several quarters of a bruising price war with Advanced Micro Devices. The rivalry had taken a toll on Intel’s profitability and market share.
“It was an exceptional quarter,” Andy D. Bryant, Intel’s chief financial officer, said in an interview. He said sales were strong across all categories and regions, and demand was especially strong in Europe and Asia. Intel executives said demand had improved as the quarter progressed.
Net income for the third quarter, which ended Sept. 29, increased to $1.86 billion, or 31 cents a share. It was $1.30 billion, or 22 cents a share, in last year’s third quarter.
Average selling prices were flat, Mr. Bryant said, but that trend was offset by increased sales of microprocessors.
Intel’s revenue rose 15 percent, to $10.09 billion, from $8.74 billion in the year-ago period.
Analysts had forecast revenue of $9.6 billion and profit of 30 cents a share. On Sept. 11, Intel raised its outlook for revenue to a range of $9.4 billion to $9.8 billion, from $9 billion to $9.6 billion.
For investors, however, perhaps the best news came in gross margin, which improved to 52.4 percent after declining to 46.9 percent in the second quarter.
Intel attributed the improvement in gross margin to higher microprocessor sales, lower start-up costs related to Intel’s move to 45-nanometer manufacturing, and lower unit costs.
The company, based in Santa Clara, Calif., also provided an optimistic outlook for the fourth quarter, forecasting sales of $10.5 billion to $11.1 billion and gross margin of 57 percent.
Intel, the world’s largest maker of computer chips, is closely watched as an indicator of the overall health of the technology industry, and its improved outlook for the fourth quarter was taken as a sign of confidence.
“It’s much better than expected,” Cody Acree, an analyst at Stifel Nicolaus, said of the quarter. Mr. Acree said Intel’s optimism came as good news to investors concerned about consumer spending during the holidays, in the face of high gas prices and uncertainties about the impact of the mortgage crisis. He added: “At least right now, there is confidence in the PC channel that there will be demand through the end of the year.”
[Well, as long as investors are happy, huh?
Fuck the consumers and the "high gas prices and uncertainties about the impact of the mortgage crisis."
What are you complaining about, anyway, Amurkns?
You got a nice hot bowl of shit to eat!]
Shares of Intel rose more than 5 percent in after-hours trading once the report was released. In the regular session, they had declined 27 cents, to close at $25.48.
“A combination of great products, strong and growing worldwide demand, and operational efficiency from our ongoing restructuring efforts led to record third-quarter revenue and a 64 percent year-over-year gain in operating income,” Intel’s president and chief executive, Paul S. Otellini, said in a statement. “Looking forward, we see each of these elements continuing to improve into the fourth quarter.”
Last year, Intel began a complete overhaul of its chip product lineup and announced a reorganization that led to significant cost cutting, including layoffs. Mr. Bryant said Tuesday that at the end of 2007 Intel would have roughly 86,000 employees, down from 94,000 at the end of 2006.
In recent quarters Intel has released a spate of new multicore processors, including its first quad-core chip, and many investors say they believe that the company is reclaiming its technological leadership from A.M.D.
A.M.D. executives said last month that they expected to have a strong second half, but the company was still expected to post a loss for the third quarter on Thursday, its fourth consecutive quarterly loss. With its revised outlook last month, Intel nearly upstaged A.M.D.’s announcement of a higher-performing version of its Opteron server chip.
Intel also announced on Tuesday the appointment of Stacy Smith as chief financial officer, succeeding Mr. Bryant, who after 13 years in the finance role will remain at Intel as chief administrative officer."
[Aren't you glad someone is doing spectacularly well in this economy, even if it shitting on you, readers?
I know it makes me all warm when I think of my economic conditions.
Maybe that fire of rage can keep you warm this winter when they shut the heat off.
If you even have a home, Americans.
If not, maybe you can light the campfire with anger.
Maybe not.]
