JP Morgan Chase's Daniel Kunstler agreed he would be watching for evidence of how bosses were handling tight resources. But he expected executives would roll out forecasts for the rest of the year, in a kind of spring cleaning that may actually send stock prices up. Customers may have a better feel for when they would install major new systems, which would make it easier for vendors of high-end hardware to give solid guidance. But PC makers dealing in more commodity-like wares would have less insight, Kunstler said. Whatever the forecast, investors may reward concrete answers, he said.
Spoilers are already out in force.
He said he was not certain he would give more than one quarters' guidance, as he had been tricked before into believing customers' technology budgets were set, only to watch expected orders disintegrate. Hewlett-Packard Co. chief Carly Fiorina has shown more restraint after previous misses tarnished her reputation on Wall Street. She blamed the economy as well as sales problems of the company's own making for lowering the outlook early this year.