Investors will get a close look at two of the biggest Net names this week when Google and Amazon
report quarterly results.
Google is up first with its December quarter results due out after the close on Tuesday. Analysts are expecting $589 million in net revenue and pro forma earnings of 77 cents a share, but since Google doesn’t provide forward guidance, it will be interesting to see how close analysts are to the actual results.
One issue facing Google in the near-term is that about 177 million shares will come out of lock-up and be eligible for sale in mid-February. That’s triple the number of shares currently trading, and the additional supply could put some pressure on the stock if insiders begin to sell en masse.
Amazon will report its results Wednesday after the close. Analysts are looking for earnings of 40 cents a share, up from 29 cents in the year-ago quarter, on revenues of $2.42 billion.
Also this week, the Federal Reserve is expected to raise interest rates Wednesday for the sixth time since last year, and January employment figures will be released Friday morning.
Stocks rose Monday after elections in Iraq went better than expected. Also boosting stocks were reports that fourth-quarter GDP could be revised upward due to an error in calculating exports to Canada. Personal income rose a record 3.7% in December, but 3.1% of that gain was due to Microsoft’s one-time $32 billion dividend.
The Nasdaq surged 26 to 2062, the S&P 500 rose 9 to 1181, and the Dow gained 62 to 10,489. Volume rose to 1.68 billion shares on the NYSE, but declined to 1.84 billion on the Nasdaq. Advancers led 25-7 on the NYSE, and 22-8 on the Nasdaq. Upside volume was 79% on the NYSE, and 78% on the Nasdaq. New highs-new lows were 226-9 on the NYSE, and 116-32 on the Nasdaq.
After the close, Internet Security beat estimates and reaffirmed guidance. Ariba
missed estimates.
During the day, shares of AT&T lost 2.6% after the company’s acquisition by SBC
became official.
NVE gained 8% on a deal with Cypress Semi
.
Chartered Semi jumped 13% on a Deutsche Bank upgrade.
