Ed Moltzen

The Chart

April 13, 2009

This week kicks off the all-important quarterly earnings reporting season for high tech, with Intel set to announce earnings on Tuesday. For the next two weeks, investors and the tech industry will focus on the numbers, and how the top tech bellwethers performed during one of the worst financial quarters of our lifetime. For Apple, Intel and Microsoft, here's what you may want to keep in focus:

Apple The scuttlebutt is that Apple may have had a tough quarter with sluggish iPhone sales and Mac sales. But Apple is one of the bigger, higher-profile companies in technology not to announce major layoffs during the quarter despite rumors. (Microsoft, if you recall, announced 5,000 layoffs including more than 1,000 on a single day.) That may not help Apple's numbers for the most recent quarter but there's a good chance it helped prevent significant disruptions in R&D that often go with workforce reductions. Oh, and Apple made it through the quarter without CEO Steve Jobs, recovering from health issues, in his office every day. The average of analyst estimates is for Apple to report $1.08 per share in earnings; expect it to come close. If it doesn't, a lot of questions will need answering. Apple is scheduled to report earnings on April 22.

Intel Some analysts are actually predicting Intel will post a loss for its first fiscal quarter. Last quarter, Intel would say only that it expected in the ballpark of $7 billion in revenue for the quarter with a margin in the low 40-percent vicinity - - noticeably lower than in recent years. However, they key to focus on for Intel is how its executives talk about inventory levels. The company reduced its inventory by a lot during its last quarter; if the pipeline is clear as the economy either bottoms out or starts to grow again, Intel may have some upbeat comments about the coming quarters. Intel reports earnings on April 14.

Microsoft During its most recent quarter, Microsoft said its client software business dropped significantly - - down about $400 million from the same quarter a year earlier. With the company in the midst of what could best be described as an awkward product transition from Windows XP to Windows Vista to Windows 7, that part of the business will continue to be under pressure. The key question for Microsoft: in spite of the lousy economy and its challenges on the desktop, can it manage to get back to flat sales, or even growth, in its historically strong business? Microsoft reports earnings on April 23.