The week ahead: Oracle earnings
Investors will scrutinize an earnings report this week from Oracle for signs of how the technology sector will fare in the future.
Following are some of the notable tech-related events scheduled for the
week of June 17 through June 21. Investors will scrutinize an earnings report this week from Oracle for signs of how the technology sector will fare in the future.
The maker of business management and database software will report earnings for its fourth fiscal quarter on Tuesday. Analysts surveyed by First Call expect the company to post earnings of 12 cents a share, which compares with the 15 cents it reported in the same quarter last year.
Financial reporting scandals at large companies such as Enron, Tyco International and Adelphia Communications have rattled investors' faith in the accuracy and honesty of how companies report earnings.
This sentiment might persuade more than a few senior executives to attend a conference on financial disclosure in Chicago, which starts this Wednesday.
Mobile phone maker Nokia told investors last week to expect lower sales growth in the second quarter than it previously forecast. Now the phone giant will give its midyear strategy update on Thursday that will provide more detail on its strategy, new phone products and financial framework.
Economic reports will also keep Wall Street's attention as the government on Tuesday releases data on the Consumer Price Index. Economists regard the index, which measures price changes of consumer goods, as a key way to measure inflation in the U.S. economy.
The information was gathered from First Call, Hoover's Online, CCBN's StreetEvents, MSN's Moneycentral and CNET Investor.
Other events scheduled this week:
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- The Network Storage Conference takes place at the Marriott Hotel in Santa Clara, Calif., June 17-20. Senior executives from Hewlett-Packard and Adaptec will make keynote speeches.
- Storage technology honchos on the east coast will congregate as the Infiniband IT Roadshow makes its first stop of the week at the Ritz-Carlton Tysons Corner in McLean, Va., on June 17. InfiniBand is a high-speed connection technology that links together servers and computer data storage networks. The event will make other stops in Boston on June 19 and New York on June 21.
- The Computer Security Institute will host NetSec 2002 at the Hyatt Regency Embarcadero in San Francisco, June 17-19. The conference will address issues related to network security including electronic commerce, VPNs, computer crime, denial-of-service attacks, forensic investigation, response teams, cryptography, intrusion detection, privacy and remote access.
- Research firm Gartner will conduct a conference on management software and Web services for businesses at the Westin Century Plaza in Los Angeles, June 17-19.
- Grid Computing Planet takes place at the DoubleTree Hotel in San Jose, Calif., June 17-18. The grid computing approach involves multiple servers that work together as a virtual supercomputer, seamlessly shifting processing tasks among individual machines.
- The Internet Society kicks off INET 2002 at the Crystal Gateway Marriott in Washington, D.C., June 18-21. Topics discussed include security, peer-to-peer applications, grid computing, the wireless Internet, online privacy, intellectual-property issues, domain names, anonymity, broadband and e-government. Featured speakers include Google CEO Eric Schimdt.
- Women in Technology International will hold its Smart Partnering conference at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, Calif., June 18-20. The event will offer information and resources to women working in technology on how to advance their businesses and careers.
- The Mobile Messaging Summit takes place at the San Mateo Marriott in San Mateo, Calif., on June 18. The event will focus on growing wireless messaging businesses such as SMS (short message service) and MMS (multimedia message service). Senior executives from Sun Microsystems and Openwave Systems will speak.
- Telecom equipment makers Ciena and ONI Systems will hold a special meeting on June 18 for their shareholders to vote on the proposed merger between the two companies.
Thursday, June 20
- Mobile phone maker Nokia will give its midyear strategy update on June 20 in Helsinki, Finland. Company CEO Jorma Ollila will speak along with other Nokia executives.
- Microsoft and Intel will conduct a course on Microsoft's .Net business software at Microsoft's campus in Redmond, Wash., June 20-21
- Sirius Satellite Radio will hold its annual meeting of stockholders on June 21 at the McGraw-Hill Building in New York beginning at 7:30 a.m.
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Tuesday, June 18
- Oracle makes database and business management software. Per-share consensus estimate for the fourth fiscal quarter: profit of 12 cents.
- Red Hat makes software based on the Linux operating system. Per-share consensus estimate for the first fiscal quarter: zero cents.
- Riverstone Networks manufactures telecommunications equipment. Per-share consensus estimate for the first fiscal quarter: loss of 11 cents.
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Tuesday, June 18
- The Consumer Price Index is expected to rise 0.2 percent in May from last month's rise of 0.5 percent. The core CPI, which excludes food and energy prices, is expected to rise 0.2 percent from April's 0.3 percent increase. This keenly watched Labor Department index measures price changes at the consumer level and helps economists track inflation.
- The Commerce Department tracks the number Building Permits granted each month. Permits allow developers to begin construction on a site, and are monitored as an indicator of future housing trends. Economists expect permits issued to fall to an annual rate 1.61 million in May from 1.63 million in April.
- The commencement of construction on new homes, known as Housing Starts, is expected to rise to an annual rate of 1.60 million for May, up from 1.56 million in April, as reported by the Department of Commerce. Economists use this statistic to gauge the health of consumer spending on major purchases in the economy.
- Initial Claims refers to the number of people who filed for unemployment benefits each week as reported by the Department of Labor. Claims will be reported for the week ending June 15.
- The Current Account is a measure of all the import and export transactions for a given quarter as reported by the Commerce Department. A deficit means that the U.S. bought more goods from foreigners than the amount of domestic goods it sold and a surplus current account indicates the U.S. exported more goods. Wall Street expects the current account deficit to increase to $105 billion for the first quarter, compared to a deficit of $98.8 billion for the fourth quarter.
- The Trade Balance, or the value of U.S. imports subtracted from exports, is expected to widen to a deficit of $32.1 billion in April from a deficit of $31.6 billion in March as reported monthly by the Commerce Department.
- The index of Leading Economic Indicators (LEI) is expected to increase 0.2 percent for May as compiled by the Conference Board, a business group. In April, the LEI fell 0.4 percent. The index, designed to signal peaks and troughs in the business cycle, is a combination of 10 indicators, including consumer expectations, money supply data, and the change in housing permits issued. A falling index generally indicates an oncoming recession, while a climbing index signals an expansion.
- The Philadelphia Federal Reserve's monthly Business Outlook Survey is a survey of manufacturers in the Third Federal Reserve District that tracks the direction of change in overall business activity at their plants. Wall Street expects the index to rise to 11.3 for the month of June from 9.1 in May.
- The Treasury Budget is a monthly report of the surplus or deficit of the U.S. government from the Department of Treasury. The deficit is expected to increase in May to $40.0 billion from $27.9 billion in April.