Week ahead: Ding-dong Dell

Following are some of the notable tech-related events scheduled for the week of May 11.

Bellwethers Dell Computer and Applied Materials will be rolling out their quarterly earnings this coming week, as a number of other tech companies get ready to trot out their three-month results.

Joining the tech titans will be BEA Systems, Intuit and Brocade Communications Systems, which analysts also expect to post profits or at least break even.

The information was gathered from First Call, Hoover's Online, and CNET Investor.

Events scheduled this week:

	Tech Events

Sunday, May 11

• Wired up. Cable executives, analysts and industry players will gather to hear about the latest in cable services, hardware and news at the SCTE Cable-Tec Expo, May 11-14, Philadelphia.

Monday, May 12

• In sync. Topics ranging from asynchronous processors to the timing measurements of synchronization circuits will be discussed at the Async 2003 conference, May 12-16, Vancouver, British Columbia.

Tuesday, May 13

• More with less. Technology executives will get a boatload of tips on how to increase business returns while reducing costs and on how to align a company's information technology with its business goals during the GigaWorld IT Forum 2003, May 13-16, Phoenix.

• That's entertainment. Trends in entertainment and educational entertainment software--including computer games and accessories--will be covered at the Electronic Entertainment Exposition (E3), May 13-16, Los Angeles.

Thursday, May 15

• Business truths. Attendees will have access to end-user case studies on what people want, to sessions on how to make IT work and to analyses of real-time technology at the Gartner Business Intelligence 2003--Harnessing the Power of Insight, May 15-16, Chicago.

Friday, May 16

• What's logical? Fuzzy logic as a basis for a theory of hierarchical definability will be among the topics covered at the 33rd International Symposium on Multiple-Valued Logic, May 16-19, Tokyo.

	Earnings

Monday, May 12

• eSpeed operates interactive electronic marketplaces for trading securities in real-time. It is expected to report a first-quarter profit of 18 cents a share.

Tuesday, May 13

• Applied Materials is the world's largest semiconductor equipment maker. It is expected to report a second-quarter profit of 2 cents a share.

• Computer Sciences is an IT consulting company. It is expected to report a fourth-quarter profit of 94 cents a share.

• Network Appliance makes network-attached storage. It is expected to report a fourth-quarter profit of 7 cents a share.

• Sycamore Networks is a networking company. It is expected to report a third-quarter loss of 5 cents a share.

Wednesday, May 14

• BEA Systems makes server software. It is expected to report a first-quarter profit of 7 cents a share.

• Brocade makes networking switches. It is expected to report a breakeven second quarter.

• Intuit makes financial software. It is expected to report a third-quarter profit of $1.02 a share.

Thursday, May 15

• Dell makes computers. It is expected to report a first-quarter profit of 23 cents a share.

	Economic Reports

Wednesday, May 14

• Retail Sales measures total receipts from U.S. stores. Growth for April is expected to drop to 0.4 percent, from 2.1 percent the previous month. When auto sales are excluded, growth is expected to decline to 0.3 percent, from 1.2 percent.

Thursday, May 15

• Business Inventories summarize total sales and inventory for the retail, wholesale and manufacturing sectors. Growth for March is expected to fall to 0.2 percent, from 0.6 percent in the previous period.

• Producer Price Index is a broad measure of the price of goods at the wholesale level. April growth is expected to decline to a negative 0.5 percent, after a 1.5 percent growth the previous month.

• Industrial Production measures the total output of U.S. factories, mines and utilities. April is expected to drop to a negative 0.3 percent, tightening up from a negative 0.5 percent the previous month.

Friday, May 16

• Housing Starts is the total number of new home construction projects. The April tally is expected to fall to 1.75 million, from 1.78 million the previous month.