EMC Earnings Preview

Corporations clipped data storage spending during the worst of the recession, but as noted in this Business Week report, data storage doesn't "get whacked" much by huge disruptions even when the economy falters. Also reported in the story is that EMC's latest numbers will show the strength of the industry's relative elasticity in a year in which corporations have loosened their purse strings on computer-hardware purchases.

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"Analysts will be looking for signs that the slowdown that the company saw in Europe in the second quarter, when the European debt crisis was worsening, eased in the third, as countries at risk of defaulting on their loans have worked out rescue measures. Any increase to the company's 2010 outlook would also be a positive. EMC said last quarter that it expects to top an earlier forecast of net income of $1.18 per share, excluding items, and revenue of $16.5 billion.

"Updates on cost-cutting will also be noted. The company, based in Hopkinton, Mass., cut about 2,400 jobs as part of a restructuring announced last year to cut costs by about $500 million, and ended last quarter with 45,000 employees. It has been hiring workers as sales improve."

Read the Full Story at Business Week