Tuesday, December 9, 2008

How Hideous Are Corporate Sales and Earnings Going to Be?

A bit off-topic but a good gauge of what is going on in the non-bailout economy.
Yesterday I noted en passant:
In the post below I said that the infrastructure build-out would be the story in 2009. The thinking is: that's where the money is going. For the rest of the economy, ouch. If you keep track of tech companies and their '09 guidance, it is just ugly....
I didn't visit Tech Trader Daily yesterday but if I had I might have gone with a stronger adjective, maybe hideous. Here are some of yesterday's TTD headlines in timestamp order, note the last couple:
Alvarion Cuts Staff 11%; Management Salaries Reduced
Chips: Another Round Of Est Cuts On INTC, TXN, Others
Sprint: Heading For A Buck?
Yahoo: Job Cuts Reportedly Coming On Wednesday
NetLogic Chops Q4 Revenue Guidance
AVX Corp. Warns Dec. Qtr Revs Will Miss Expectations
National Semi Sees FY Q3 Revs Down 30% From Q2
Molex Cuts December Quarter Outlook
Altera: Yet Another Chip Company Cuts Guidance
Shocked, Shocked: Integrated Device Cuts Dec. Qtr View
Texas Instruments - Sigh - Slashes Q4 Outlook

Today MarketBeat asks "Are Chips Done With Dips?":
Semiconductor companies have been among the more pessimistic over the last 30 days, lowering 2009 earnings estimates with an assertiveness that has not been matched by other parts of the market. So by the time Texas Instruments Inc. got around to its profit warning late Monday, investors in the sector may have seen enough to convince themselves it was time to start buying.

Shares of Texas Instruments gained 6.3% even though the company reduced its fourth-quarter outlook more aggressively than analysts anticipated. For many analysts, the expectation is that the outlook could not be much worse, thus representing a potential buying opportunity...MORE