August 28 - 5:35pm EDT   Dell on Thursday posted a disappointing drop in quarterly earnings, citing slow IT spending in Asia and Western Europe, and increased spending to drive growth. The company's surprising 17 percent decline in quarterly profit sent the world's second largest PC maker's shares down more than 10 percent. Dell reported fiscal second quarter revenue of $16.4 billion, up 11 percent year-over-year and driven by a 19 percent increase in worldwide product shipments, but its $0.33 EPS, before one-time costs, was short of investors' expectations of $0.36 per share. After its one-time costs and amortization, Dell's profit fell to $616 million in the second quarter (ended August 1) ... [full story]

July 21 - 11:00pm EDT   One of the most interesting things to come out of Apple Apple's Investor Conference Call today has to do with what CFO Peter Oppenheimer would not talk about –- a mysterious "product transition." Oppenheimer told analysts that the transition will affect earnings in the September quarter and into next year, but –-- in keeping with Apple's long-standing policy of not commenting on future products –- he did not elaborate. Apple's profit margin in the third quarter was about 35 percent. The company's forecast calls for that margin to drop to 31.5 percent in the current quarter. [full story]

July 21 - 7:45pm EDT   Despite record setting earnings for the third quarter of 2008, Apple's stock is down sharply in after-hours trading. As of 4:45 PST, shares were hovering at $148.94, down $17.35 or 10.43 percent. Apple posted revenue of $7.46 billion and net quarterly profit of $1.07 billion, or $1.19 per diluted share for its fiscal 2008 third quarter ended June 28, 2008. In the best June quarter in its history, the company sold almost 2.5 million Macs, or a 41 percent increase from the year-ago quarter and over 11 million iPods. [full story]

May 29 - 5:45pm EDT   Dell has reported fiscal first quarter revenue of $16 billion, a 9 percent year-over-year increase. While net earnings of $0.38 cents per share represent a 12 percent increase, operating income was down 4 percent compared to the year-ago quarter. In a statement, Dell officials said that the results were driven by "better-than-industry growth of commercial and consumer products and services, and lower operating expense as a percent of revenue." Specifically, notebook sales skyrocketed 43 percent, a rate Dell says is 1.2 times the industry average. The consumer segment was also especially strong, with Dell claiming to grow global share of this market by 1.2 points to ... [full story]

April 23 - 7:35pm EDT   Apple today posted its best second quarter in company history, with good news from its education, computer, and iPhone segments. Educational revenue growth was revealed to be 35-percent, which Apple says is the highest growth rate it has seen [full story]

April 21 - 7:25pm EDT  In brief: Apple will broadcast its second quarter results conference call on Wednesday, Odysseus, the Eudora clone/successor, is available for pre-order, O'Reilly has published a new edition of the big book of Apple Hacks, and Carbon fiber cases for the iPhone are once again shipping ... Apple will broadcast its 2008 second quarter results conference call on Wednesday, April 23, 2008, 2:00 p.m. PDT/5:00 p.m. EDT. The conference call will be available as a continuous rebroadcast utilizing QuickTime. The live audio webcast will be accessible through Apple's website. Viewers need a copy of QuickTime 6 or QuickTime 7 to listen to the conference call. [full story]

April 18 - 3:10pm EDT  Shares of Apple Computer Inc. are up $6.51 to $161 near the end of trading on friday, representing a gain of 4.21 percent. The uptick could be due, at least in part, to strong market share gains posted by the company in recent surveys from various research firms. Apple saw the biggest gain among the top 5 vendors in the U.S. market according to Gartner, enjoying strong retail sales coupled with "decent growth" in the professional market. According to IDC, Apple is expected to come in at fourth place and ship 950,000 Macs to Americans during the first quarter of 2008, earning itself an increase from 5.7 percent in the prior quarter to 6 percent. The increase is a 25.1 percent jump over sales in ... [full story]

April 18 - 12:35am EDT   Google today posted its first quarter profits, thoroughly outpacing Wall Street analyst estimates, which were based on the effects a slowing economy would have on sales and earnings. According to CNN Money, the news follows a weak fourth quarter last year, with earnings coming in under analyst estimates. The report shows Google's income rising 30 percent to $1.31 billion – $4.12 a share – with $1.54 billion before one-time charges. [full story]

February 11 - 4:30pm EST   Apple stock was subject to slight gains as Citigroup added the Cupertino-based company to it Top Picks Live list, which allowed the computer manufacturer to maintain a Buy rating, with a target of $212 per share. According to AppleInsider, shares of the company have been on a slight rollercoaster ride since its December peak of $199.83, taking a total hit of 37-percent since that time. Citigroup expects Apple's earnings per share will beat consensus by 10 cents, possibly more, for its predicted March quarter. [full story]

January 23 - 1:10am EST  Apple recently made available its first quarter financial data for 2008, which displayed record earnings for the company. Senior VP and CFO Peter Oppenheimer guided analysts and industry insiders through the quarterly figures, citing record Mac sales, with strong software and iPod sales backing the numbers. A strong install-base of Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard has also helped the company's quarter, with estimates being placed at a 19-percent install base on Macs. Apple's cash generation has doubled that of its net income, and has over $18 billion of financial reserves. [full story]

January 22 - 5:50pm EST   Apple's shares plummeted in after-hours trading today, nearly $19 per share or just over 12 percent to stand at $136.82 as of 5:35PM ET. Shares had already lost about 3.5 percent during normal trading hours on volume of about 85 million. That means Apple's shares are off more than 30 percent from their 52-week high of $202 reached in late December, 2007. Propelling the earnings decline was Apple's earning forecast. For its second quarter, Apple expects earnings of about 94 cents per share on about $6.8 billion in revenue. Analysts expected earnings of $1.09 per share on revenue of $6.98 billion. This despite the fact that Apple is predicting a 29 percent increase in ... [full story]

January 22 - 5:15pm EST   Apple today reported record breaking earnings that soared above all previous quarterly results, marking the best three-month period for the Cupertino-based company since its inception in 1976. "We're thrilled to report our best quarter ever, with the highest revenue and earnings in Apple's history," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "We have an incredibly strong new product pipeline for 2008, starting with MacBook Air, Mac Pro and iTunes Movie Rentals in the first two weeks." [full story]

January 22 - 12:15am EST   Apple on Tuesday will release its Q1 fiscal results, which are expected to show better-than-anticipated numbers, mainly due to strong Mac sales. Despite a steady tumble in share price starting in early January, analysts are predicting that Apple could be worth close to $600 per share within 18 months. In addition to strong machine sales, the optimistic outlook is fueled by Apple's desire to sell 10 million iPhones by the end of 2008, as well as the prospect of an iPhone "nano". [full story]

December 7 - 12:00am EST   Palm on Thursday announced its preliminary second quarter financial results for the 2008 fiscal year, which ended November 30th, falling short of previous forecasts based in part on a failed "mystery" product launch. Palm expects earnings to sit between $345 to $350 million, close to $30 million short of its October 1st projections for the first quarter. Palm expects gross margin to be within 29.3- to 29.8-percent on a GAAP basis. The gross margin reflects an as-of-yet unforeseen increase in warranty repairs over the course of the quarter, partly due to higher-than-expected shipments of Palm's new Centro smartphone, and a delay in product shipment. [full story]