HP and Dell
will give tech investors much to think about this week when they release their quarterly earnings.
HP will report after the close on Wednesday, along with Applied Materials and Network Appliance
.
Analysts are looking for earnings of 44 cents a share from HP, and sales are expected to climb 5.1% to $22.55 billion. Investors will be watching to see if CEO Mark Hurd can lead the company from turnaround to growth — with just 5% sales growth forecast for the next couple of years, analysts will be looking for any upside the company can deliver on sales.
On Thursday, investors will be looking for Dell to bounce back from its disappointing results last fall. Analysts are looking for earnings of 41 cents a share from Dell, up four cents from the year-ago quarter, on sales of $14.82 billion.
Inflation watchers will also have a busy week, with new Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke’s first congressional testimony on Wednesday and wholesale inflation data on Friday.
Stocks soared Tuesday on falling oil prices and strong retail sales, with the Dow recapturing the 11,000 level.
The Nasdaq rose 22 to 2262, the S&P 500 climbed 12 to 1275, and the Dow surged 136 to 11,028. Volume rose to 2.44 billion shares on the NYSE, and 1.88 billion on the Nasdaq. Advancers led 22-10 on the NYSE, and 19-10 on the Nasdaq. Upside volume was 73% on the NYSE, and 71% on the Nasdaq. New highs-new lows were 116-31 on the NYSE, and 89-20 on the Nasdaq.
iVillage jumped 11% on its results, while Qwest
edged higher as its loss widened.
RealNetworks soared 15% on a Piper Jaffray upgrade.
Blackboard fell 6% on its earnings report.
Travelzoo rose 10% on a share buyback plan.
