The following is an excerpt from David Zielenziger | October 28, 2012 | IBTimes.com |
The flood of technology corporate earnings report has ebbed, with the usual number of surprises. Still, if investors had paid attention to the out-of-cycle reports from leaders like Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ), Oracle (Nasdaq: ORCL), the No. 1 database developer, and Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: CSCO), the No. 1 provider of Internet gear, they wouldn’t have been surprised.
The first takeaway for investors and consumers: Only the strongest companies are thriving. That holds for the likes of Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL), the world’s most valuable technology company, International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM) and Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ), the No. 2 U.S. carrier.
To use the language of Tony Soprano, they’re “good earners,” with solid cash flow, oodles of customers and good prospects for the fourth quarter and beyond.
On the other hand, a rival to Intel (Nasdaq: INTC), the No. 1 chipmaker, Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD), reported a $157 million net loss and plans to fire 1,800 more employees this quarter. IBM rival HP is still firing people amid a four-year “restructuring.”
The next is that once sophisticated new products have shipped, tech companies atop the supply chain have to deliver. In other words, Apple better sell tens of millions of iPhone 5s, iPads and iPad Minis this quarter; Microsoft needs a hit with Windows 8 and the Surface tablet and Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN), the No. 1 e-retailer, with the newest Kindle Fire.
Hats off to Samsung Electronics (Seoul: 005930), the world’s most aggressive technology company. The biggest maker of DRAM chips has become the biggest maker of smartphones with its Galaxy S III and earlier models, as well as a profit giant, reporting record net income of 8.12 trillion Korean won (US $7.42 billion).
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