financial results

Analysts are warning Google not to lose its focus and enter too many new markets with profits generated in a very successful third quarter.

Citing improved profit margins and a stabilizing IT spending environment, IBM revised its 2009 earnings estimates upward Thursday, even as the company's revenue dropped.

Oracle reported a 13 percent dip in new software sales Tuesday, but posted quarterly financial results that were ahead of analyst expectations.

Dell increased its cash reserves by 16 percent during the first quarter.

Computer industry bellwether HP reported a 3 percent drop in revenue plans to lay off 6,000 employees.

Sony reported Thursday a loss for its fiscal year ended March 31, hit by the slowdown of the global economy, the appreciation of the yen, and a decline in the Japanese stock market.

IT and communications bellwethers Sprint, Alcatel-Lucent, Cisco and Symantec this week reported sagging quarterly sales, but analysts, impressed by cost controls and hopeful that a bottom to the tech market has been reached, raised estimates on share price valuations and earnings of some vendors.

Symantec reports a $249 million loss, saying customers are moving away from multiyear licenses.

MPLS routers are moving faster, but sales of DSL access equipment are slowing.

Taiwan's five largest DRAM makers reported massive losses in a slew of earnings reports filed late Thursday evening, raising questions about how much longer some of them can remain afloat without direct government aid.

The effects of the economic downturn have so far had a limited effect on mobile networks, but some operators are postponing investments, according to Ericsson, which reported an increase in revenue for the first quarter on Thursday.