Sales Forecast

IBM Corp. said Monday that second-quarter sales missed analysts' estimates as demand for services slowed and the falling euro weighed on revenue. Revenue rose 2% to $23.7 billion, the Armonk, N.Y., company said. Analysts on average estimated $24.2 billion in revenue, according to a Bloomberg survey. Services signings declined 12% to $12.3 billion, suggesting corporate customers were still delaying projects. It's the second straight quarterly decline in contracts for services, which makes up more than half of IBM's total revenue.

Intel Corp. forecast second-quarter sales that topped analysts' predictions, indicating that demand for personal computers remains strong. Sales will be $10.2 billion, plus or minus $400 million, the company said Tuesday in its quarterly earnings statement. Analysts in a Bloomberg survey had estimated $9.72 billion on average. The forecast follows record first-quarter sales, fueled by consumers ordering laptops. Demand is expected to increase further in the second half as more businesses upgrade their computer networks -- something they were slow to do during the recession.

Limited Brands Inc., owner of the Victoria's Secret chain, fell in late trading after cutting its forecast for this month's comparable-store sales. Limited fell $1.82, or 9.3%, to $17.67 after the end of regular trading. The shares closed up 27 cents at $19.49 and have gained 94% this year. October sales at stores open at least a year will decline by a percentage in the low to mid single digits, Columbus, Ohio-based Limited said. The retailer, which had predicted comparable-store sales would be about unchanged, didn't provide a reason for the revised forecast.

Video game publisher THQ Inc. fought its way to a fiscal first-quarter profit, bolstered by sales of mixed martial arts game UFC 2009 Undisputed and war game Red Faction: Guerrilla. But shares of the Agoura Hills company fell more than 7% in after-hours trading after it gave a sales forecast for its second quarter that disappointed investors. Analysts had expected sales to reach $121.7 million, but THQ is not expected to release a game in the quarter.

Trendy retailer American Apparel Inc. reported a first-quarter loss and lowered its annual sales forecast Monday, hours after it agreed to settle a lawsuit brought by actor-director Woody Allen for $5 million. Chief Executive Dov Charney said "severe liquidity constraints" hurt sales and margins in the quarter that ended March 31. The Los Angeles firm posted a loss of $9 million, or 13 cents a share, compared with a profit of $1.1 million, or 2 cents a share, a year earlier.

Saks Inc. reported a loss for its fiscal fourth quarter as the luxury retailer was forced to slash prices to hold on to affluent shoppers who have cut their spending in the recession. The company also issued a downbeat sales forecast. But its shares surged 13% after company officials said Saks had sufficient liquidity to pull through 2009. The New York company's chief executive dispelled rumors of a possible bankruptcy filing. Saks is "very much focused on improving our operations, ensuring we are free-cash-flow positive in 2009 and on positioning us for the future," CEO Steve Sadove said.

Broadcom Corp., the Irvine maker of chips for phones and consumer electronics, reduced its fourth-quarter sales forecast to $1.05 billion to $1.1 billion, down from a previous projection of $1.17 billion to $1.24 billion. The company, one of a number of chip makers to restate projections for the current quarter, said the recession is crimping demand for electronics, forcing customers to cancel or delay orders. Before the revision was announced, shares had gained 52 cents to close at $15.46.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc., the second-largest maker of personal-computer processors, cut its quarterly sales forecast, citing weakened demand across all its businesses. Sales will fall about 25% from $1.59 billion in the third quarter, excluding process technology license revenue, the Sunnyvale, Calif., company said. The revised forecast indicates sales of about $1.19 billion in the quarter ending Dec. 27. That misses the $1.53-billion average analyst estimate compiled by Bloomberg.

Eastman Kodak Co., already slim from retooling for the digital age, said it was slashing its full-year profit and sales forecast and eliminating more jobs because of the global credit crisis. Its stock fell nearly 6%. The pullback by the photography pioneer overshadowed third-quarter results -- its profit more than doubled even as its sales dropped 5%. Driven by digital cameras, picture frames and inkjet printers, the Rochester, N.Y., company earned $96 million, or 33 cents a share, up from $37 million, or 13 cents, a year earlier.

For several years, carmakers have been reaping the benefits of explosive growth in emerging global markets, even as U.S. sales have tanked. That may be changing. On Thursday, Toyota Motor Corp. said it was cutting its worldwide sales forecast for 2009 by 7%, to 9.7 million cars and light trucks. And although a bleak U.S. sales picture is mainly to blame, 300,000 of the revision comes from international markets, including a 150,000 cut in Asia, which has been among the world's fastest-growing regions in recent years.