Earnings alert: SAP's conservative outlook
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Plus: Yahoo profit falls ... Toshiba earnings dip, chip outlook dims...Verizon boosted by wireless, fiber.
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Investors are looking for an onslaught  of company earnings and economic data next week to give  direction for U.S. stocks after some early signs of slower  profit growth got the year off to an uncertain start.
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SAP AG has benefited from the market uncertainty created by the long battle between Oracle Corp. and Peoplesoft Inc. Now that the battle is over, the dominant business applications maker doesn&#39;t see the good times ending.
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As earnings reports rolled in from technology bellwethers, including Microsoft, Apple, Nokia, and Motorola, worries about the economy continued to overshadow good news this week.The fourth quarter of 2007 was strong for IT sales, but a downturn in the U.S. economy, which many analysts fear is slipping into recession, is undermining investor confidence in the sector. Share prices of technology companies have dropped since the start of the year, with the Nasdaq Composite Index sinking to pre-2007 levels.Microsoft provided some cheer Thursday, reporting a strong quarter for core products such as Windows Vista and Office 2007. Revenue for the quarter increased 30 percent year over year to $16.37 billion.Just as important as many market observers fear the U.S. is entering a recession that will affect technology, Microsoft also raised its forecast for its fiscal year, which ends June 30. Noting that Office and video game sales are doing better than expected, the company said it expects revenue for its fiscal year in the range of $59.9 billion to $60.5 billion. Three months ago, the forecast was $58.8 billion to $59.7 billion.The report, however, provided only a momentary uptick in Microsoft shares and the Nasdaq, even though other news on the software front was good.Enterprise database vendor Sybase, for example, said Thursday that it had its first billion-dollar sales year in seven years, helped by a 15 percent jump in revenue for the fourth quarter to $295.2 million. What&#39;s more, its forecast for this quarter remains strong.&quot;We have a balance in our product portfolio and a balance geographically as well,&quot; said company Chief Marketing Officer Raj Nathan.Though Sybase has a stronghold in the financial vertical market -- a sector that is in trouble -- Nathan pointed out that the company is strong in the telecom arena as well, does about 50 percent of its business outside the U.S., and is developing new analytics products that will help financial companies manage risk and do program trading.The company was one of the few that ended the week on a happy note with its share price increasing by $0.56 to close Friday at $27.44.Other companies did not fare so well, as investors jumped on any scrap of bad news.&#160;Apple got hit hard even though it reported quarterly revenue of $9.6 billion, a whopping 35 percent year-over-year increase. Investors were spooked about slowing iPod sales and a weak forecast for this quarter. iPod shipments of 22.1 million were about 10 percent below what had been expected.Apple shares plunged, dropping from $161.36 last Friday to $130.01 this Friday.Motorola had a rough week, reporting Tuesday an 84 percent plunge in income for the fourth quarter&#160;to $100 million and warning that its market-share losses would continue as the U.S. market -- the company&#39;s cell-phone stronghold -- continues to slump until next year. Company shares dropped $2.27 to hit $10.05 Wednesday on the news, and stayed below $11 through the week.&quot;Management&#39;s view of [a] recovery being a 2009 event pushes the recovery further past the horizon most investors are willing to hear at this point,&quot; said Citigroup Global Markets in a research report.Nokia, with hit products and a strong presence in Asia, on Thursday reported a 44 percent rise in profit for the fourth quarter, to &#8364;1.84 billion ($2.7 billion), on a 34 percent sales increase. A slump in U.S. sales was more than offset elsewhere. Nokia shares jumped Thursday on the news, rising $4.05 to close at $36.48 -- and then fell right back down Friday after IDC issued a report that suggested Nokia&#39;s confidence in 2008 was misplaced.In an economy that has investors focusing on the bad news, it&#39;s going to take some evidence of strong sales in the current quarter to bring confidence -- and tech share prices -- back up to where they were. The Nasdaq finished 2007 up by 9.8 percent, but in the first four weeks of this year, last year&#39;s gain has been wiped out with the index closing Friday almost 300 points down from the end of December.
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Investors are expected to focus on oil prices and corporate earnings outlooks next week, and the slightest warning about company revenues could weigh on stocks.
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NEW YORK - Stocks moved modestly higher Monday as investors discounted another technology profit warning and focused instead on positive outlooks for third- and fourth-quarter earnings.    While some investors were concerned that rising energy prices and the summer's economic slowdown would undermine third-quarter results for many companies, a new report by J.P...
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Plus:  Microsoft tops its expectations...Google doubles profit year-over-year...SAP earnings beat estimates...EarthLink trims outlook...AT&#38;T posts $7.1 billion loss...Lucent sees first profitable year since 2000...EMC issues sunny report.
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European equity markets were set for a cautious start on Monday on a light day for corporate earnings releases and economic data.  Attention is expected to focus on the Swedish market after a centre-right alliance proposing tax cuts and privatisation plans won the election, ending 12 years of Social Democrat rule.
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A few thoughts on the earnings warning.
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When 2004 earnings reports start pouring into the market next week, stocks are likely to stick to a sideways trend, market strategists say.
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Plus: Cisco profit climbs...Time Warner lowers earnings target...Electronic Arts lowers outlook, shares fall...Sony profit up, forecast cautious.
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Software companies are poised to post  strong December quarter earnings in the next two weeks, boosted  by pent-up demand and a weak dollar, but high valuations and a  tough year ahead might rein in stock prices, analysts say.
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Oracle Corp. ORCL.O posts   quarterly results next week with investors watching for signs   of further strength in its business applications software as it   chases industry leader SAP AG SAPG.DE.
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Wall Street's quarterly earnings  frenzy is starting to taper off, but U.S. stock investors will  still have plenty of numbers to watch next week. Several media  giants as well as beverage and snack foods company PepsiCo Inc.   and forest products company Weyerhaeuser Co.  are  among those planning to announce results in the week ahead.
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The company's latest earnings met analysts' estimates but uncertainty still lingers.
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Plus: Matsushita profit up 22 percent...Amazon's profit up, margins squeezed...SAP cautious on 2008...Yahoo profit falls.
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Business Objects reported a 19 percent rise in revenue for the third quarter, driven by services, but earnings were dragged down by a shortfall in license revenue, recent acquisitions and legal costs.While the income figures are broadly in line with preliminary results announced on Oct. 7, the company had expected its earnings to be better. The results come about two weeks after&#160;SAP announced plans to acquire Business Objects&#160;for $6.7 billion.Earnings for the quarter fell to $6.4 million, or $0.07 per share, from $19.6 million, or $0.21 per share, a year earlier, Business Objects said. It had predicted earnings of $0.16 to $0.20 per share.The earnings reported include a charge of around $7 million, equivalent to $0.05 per share, to settle litigation with Decision Warehouse. Business Objects had previously honored Decision Warehouse as its top distributor in Latin America: the company now resells products from&#160;Hyperion, which was recently bought by Oracle, and&#160;BEA Systems, which Oracle is trying to buy.Revenue for the quarter, which ended Sept. 30, was $369 million, up 19 percent compared to a year earlier. The growth was driven by revenue from services such as product maintenance, up 27 percent, and consulting and training, up 34 percent year on year.Growth in license revenue lagged, up just 6 percent compared to a year earlier, although license revenue from all product lines continued to grow, the company said.The&#160;acquisition of Cartesis, completed on June 1, and of&#160;Inxight Software, completed on July 3, added around $21 million in revenue for the quarter.Business Objects also profited from exchange rate fluctuations: while total revenue grew 19 percent year on year, at constant currency rates it grew just 15 percent, while license revenue grew 2 percent at constant currency rates.Business Objects warned that there&#39;s more uncertainty ahead -- and not just because of SAP&#39;s bid for the company, announced Oct. 7.The unexpected shortfall in third-quarter licensing revenue, added to uncertainty about customers&#39; future spending ahead of the merger, prompted the company to withdraw previously issued financial guidance.