Posted 11/05/09 at 08:21:47 PM by Ryan Whitwam

The recession may or may not be over for the general public, but as far as D-Link is concerned, the high times are here again. The maker of network solutions has posted solid growth in the third quarter of the year. Net profits were up to $7.98 million in Q3 2009. This is an abrupt turnaround after the first half of the year when the company actually lost several million.

A whopping 54% of D-Link’s profits were from the Asia Pacific and emerging markets. Management expects that to rise over 60% in the next few quarters. D-Link expects growth to continue in the fourth quarter, but not at an increased rate over the third quarter.

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Posted 11/04/09 at 06:30:16 PM by Ryan Whitwam

Have you heard? Comcast is raking in cash like no one’s business. The internet service provider reported today that their net earnings for the third quarter amounted to $944 million. That is a 22% increase year over year. Some of this comes from cost cutting, but Comcast has seen substantial subscriber increases as well.

Comcast saw a 2.7% decrease in the number of TV subscribers, but that was offset by large increases in internet and phone service. Overall internet subscribers grew 6.4% to 15.6 million, while voice accounts grew a staggering 20% to 7.3 million. Overall, Comcast’s customer base grew 3.4% to 46.8 million.

With these strong numbers, Comcast seems more able than ever to proceed with plans to acquire a stake in NBC. No new announcements have been made, but reports suggest that the ISP wants to move into the media space with a controlling interest in GE-owned NBC-Universal.

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Posted 10/20/09 at 05:52:21 PM by Jason Barry

Yahoo was able to report positive numbers to the tune of $186m so far this year compared to the disappointing $54m they reported this time last year. While those numbers seem promising, sales fell about 12% this year with revenue down to $1.58b.

They can report these numbers because thye slashed more than 2,000 jobs during the past year, freeing some of their overhead costs. Further, they deployed some large service changes, such as welcoming the use of rivals onto its portal, and upgrading and enhancing its web search tools. They also initiated a $100m global advertising campaign for its portal and advertising services.

Most likely, Microsoft is happiest to hear this positive growth as they signed a deal in July to utilize Yahoo’s advertising sales in exchange for Microsoft’s search services. The Federal Trade Commission is still finalizing the deal.

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Posted 01/08/09 at 10:36:34 AM by Paul Lilly

AMD's financial struggles have been well documented throughout the past year, but it isn't the only chip maker feeling the sting from a lackluster global economy. And while the technology world is abuzz at CES showing off new gadgets and prototypes, Intel's fourth-quarter warning comes as a sobering reminder that all is not well.

The No. 1 chip maker said it expects just $8.2 billion in revenue for the quarter, representing a disappointing 23 percent drop from the same quarter one year ago, and a 20 percent tumble from Q3. Intel had warned in November that its Q4 results would be less than previously forecast, but at the time, the company still expected to pull in up to $9.3 billion.

Perhaps most disheartening about the less than expected revenues -- for Intel, anyway -- is what impact the netbook industry might be having. The netbook market has exploded in recent months, and it's been Intel's Atom processor that has provided the dynamite. But unlike much higher priced notebooks, these $500 and under laptops don't offer the same attractive profit margin, apparently no matter how well they're selling.

How's that for a double-edged sword?

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Posted 07/18/08 at 10:39:37 PM by Paul Lilly

If Sony Ericsson were capable of self-fulfilling prophecies, it would wish it could take back its ominous profit warning issued in late June. The company said it would break even in the second quarter due to disappointing European sales of its mid and high-end mobile phones, but even that turned out to be wishful thinking as Sony Ericsson on Friday posted a staggering 97 percent drop in Q2 profits. To help weather the financial storm and reduce operational costs, the mobile phone maker plans to cut 2,000 jobs "within the next 12 months."

Sony Ericsson only shipped 24.4 million units in Q2, compared to Nokia's 122 million handsets in the same period, who on Thursday announced better-than-expected earnings. Relief doesn't appear to be in sight either, as SE indicated "challenging market conditions" would remain through the rest of the year.

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Posted 07/18/08 at 03:03:57 PM by Pulkit Chandna

IBM’s Q2 results paint an idyllic picture as the company not only surpassed financial pundits’ expectations but also defied the gloom that currently shrouds the US economy. The company reported sales worth $26.8 billion in the second quarter and announced a profit of $2.77 billion – up 22%. The better-than-predicted result prompted IBM to revise its financial guidance upwards and now expects to earn $8.75 per share this year. The company has developed a strong immunity against the economic downturn due to the highly consolidated nature of its business and global reach. Its IT service division that caters to disparate businesses remains sturdy as ever.

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Posted 07/18/08 at 11:41:52 AM by Paul Lilly

Few companies wouldn't mind switching places with Google, who posted a $1.25 billion profit, but when you're the undisputed champ of the online world (or if you're Dr. Evil), a measly billion dollars just isn't enough. Along with earnings per share of $3.92, the numbers aren't adding up to what analysts had predicted, leaving many to wonder if the online advertising market might be taking a turn for the worse. Google Cheif Economist Hal Varian sees it differently, saying:

"Consumers are being cautious in their online spending patterns just as they are in the offline spending. Despite the weakness in the economy, advertising seems to be hodling up remarkably well in most sectors. This illustrates the point that we've made several times that during periods of slow economic growth, the last thing an advertiser wants to cut is its spending on search-based advertising."

But Varians comments did little to assuage investors, nor did posting gross sales of $5.37 billion, marking a 39 percent improvement over one year ago and hitting analysts' estimates. The company's shares still managed to drop 10 percent to $479.70 in after-hours trading.

Given the overall growth and $12.7 billion in cash, is the panic justified?

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Posted 07/16/08 at 09:27:08 AM by Chris Moody

While AMD battles its stock price doldrums and feels the pinch of it’s acquisition of ATI, Intel posted record second quarter earnings of $9.5 billion, operating income of $2.3 billion, net income of $1.6 billion and earnings per share (EPS) of 28 cents.

"Intel had another strong quarter with revenue at the high end of expectations and earnings up substantially year over year," said Paul Otellini, Intel president and CEO. "As we enter the second half, demand remains strong for our microprocessor and chipset products in all segments and all parts of the globe."

This is great news for Intel, but serves to highlight AMD’s woes.

AMD’s disappointing Phenom launch and lackluster processor performance combined with Intel’s pressure on processor prices is a heavy rock around AMD’s neck. It’s important to note that AMD hasn’t been idle and has some pretty interesting things in stock. Not the least of which is the catching up with Nvidia in GPUs, but also their Spider platform, and next generation processor. There is no doubt the pressure is on. AMD needs to deliver a hit. They need it and we, the PC enthusiasts, need AMD. Without a serious competitor innovation can stagnate and prices are sure to rise.

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