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THE WEEK AHEAD: Earnings, earnings and more earnings

3 min read

Technology stocks finally broke out of their slump this week thanks to some impressive earnings reports from the likes of Yahoo! and Juniper Networks. Investors are hoping the pattern holds next week when virtually every other tech firm reports.

For the week, the Dow Jones industrial average closed up 176 points to 10,812.05 while the Nasdaq hustled up 222 points to 4,245.99.

"These markets had a really good tone to them over the last day or two because of the earnings numbers that have come out," said James Volk, co-director, institutional trading at D.A. Davidson and Co.

Yahoo! (Nasdaq: YHOO) deserves a lot of credit for sparking this week's rally. Most analysts were expecting less-than-scintillating results this quarter due to rising expenses and shrinking online advertising revenue.

It didn't turn out that way.

Yahoo! earned $74 million, or 12 cents a share, on sales of $270 million.

The impressive sales growth surprised analysts who were expecting total sales of between $221 million to $251 million.

Looking ahead to next week, there are so many technology earnings reports coming out it's almost impossible to highlight them all.

Here's a look at some of the biggest names:

  • Apple Computer (Nasdaq: AAPL) will report its third-quarter earnings with analysts expecting a profit of 44 cents a share.

    Last quarter, the PC maker topped analysts' estimates, earning $160 million, or 88 cents a share, on sales of $1.94 billion.

  • Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD) looks to build on its recent momentum when it reports its second-quarter results.

    First Call Corp. consensus predicts it will earn $1.14 a share in the quarter.

    Last quarter, it made $189.3 million, or $1.15 a share, on sales of $1.1 billion.

  • DoubleClick (Nasdaq: DCLK) will be representing the Internet sector next week.

    Analysts are predicting the online advertising firm will lose 5 cents a share in its second quarter.

    In the first quarter, DoubleClick beat the Street when it lost $13.2 million, or 11 cents a share, on sales of $110 million.

  • Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) should provide some interesting news when it reports its fourth-quarter and year-end numbers.

    First Call Corp. consensus expects it to earn 98 cents a share in the quarter, including gains from investments.

    Last quarter, it made $2.73 billion, or 78 cents a share, on sales of $8 billion.

  • IBM (NYSE: IBM) is expected to post a profit of $1 a share in its second quarter, up from the 83 cents a share it pocketed last quarter.

  • Lucent Technologies (NYSE: LU) checks in from the network-equipment sector. Analysts are looking for a third-quarter profit of 29 cents a share.

    Last quarter, it made $754 million, or 23 cents a share, on sales of $10.3 billion.

  • Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) always brings a lot of intrigue when it reports earnings. First Call Corp. consensus sees the software giant earning 42 cents a share in the quarter.

    In the first quarter, Microsoft earned $2.39 billion, or 43 cents a share, on sales of $5.66 billion.

  • Sun Microsystems (Nasdaq: SUNW) has posted spectacular earnings throughout the past two years.

    First Call Corp. consensus expects it to earn 33 cents a share in its fourth quarter, up from the 26 cents a share it raked in last quarter.

    Of course, there are dozens of other tech firms reporting next week, so keep your eyes open.