Broadcom (BRCM) 31.50 -0.87 (-2.7%)
After warning for Q4 (Dec) revenues Oct 21, communications chip maker shows EPS growth of 21%, to $0.23 (consensus of $0.22) and revenues growth of 13% to $539.4 mln (consensus of $537.9 mln); Management noted excess inventory that affected all of its businesses and led to the initial reduced outlook; On its call, Broadcom guided Q1 (Mar) sales to 'flat with Q4,' which is slightly lighter than what the Reuters Estimates consensus called for ($553.37 mln)

Foundry Networks (FDRY) 10.00 -0.91 (-8.3%)
Communications equipment maker matches the Q4 (Dec) consensus EPS estimate of $0.12, but revenues fall shy coming in at $104.8 mln (consensus of $107.1 mln); The company's guidance for Q1 (Mar) was also not inspiring - profits were pegged at $0.08-0.12 as compared to the Street's $0.12; Revenues, however, were in line at $100-110 mln; The sell off is particularly surprising considering FDRY is down over 30% for the year; The stock trades well below its 50 and 200-day moving averages

Microsoft (MSFT) 26.58 +0.47 (+1.8%)
After issuing slightly weaker than expected Q2 (Dec) sales guidance, software giant handily beats the downwardly revised revenues consensus estimate and reports EPS of $0.35 (excluding stock-based comp), $0.03 ahead of the consensus; Company then gives upside guidance for Q3 (Mar), pegging sales at $9.7-9.8 bln (consensus of $9.66 bln); On its call, Microsoft boosts its Xbox forecast, saying it will sell 21-22 mln by June; Adds that unearned revenues should rise to $8.6 bln this fiscal year

Novellus (NVLS) 26.50 -0.18 (-0.7%)
After lowering and then raising its outlook for Q4 (Dec), chip equipment maker shows upside to the EPS, sales, and gross margin Wall Street estimates; Company also states that bookings came in slightly above the range ($325-330 mln) it gave during its mid-quarter update; On its call, management described the business environment as 'choppy' but remained optimistic about 2H05; Said larger capex budgets from names like INTC and TSM made it likely that business would improve over the course of the year

Procter & Gamble (PG) 56.00 +0.68 (+1.2%)
Ahead of its scheduled earnings release (for Fri morning), household products company turns in Q2 (Dec) EPS of $0.73 and revenues of $14.45 bln - both of which are better than expectations; Quarterly highlights include unit volume growth of 7%, gross margins that expanded 30 basis points, and free cash flow of $1.56 bln; Management raised its FY05 (June) EPS guidance by $0.03, to $2.61-2.64 (consensus of $2.61); The company will provide more details on its conference call tomorrow at 7 ET

Sanmina (SANM) 6.77 -0.65 (-8.8%)
Contract electronics manufacturer misses the Q1 (Dec) consensus EPS estimate by a penny on revenues that fell 2% to $3.25 bln (consensus of $3.39 bln); Company cited pricing pressure and a sluggish business climate for the quarterly sales decline; Management went on to guide Q2 (Mar) revenues lower, to $2.85-3.15 bln as compared to the Street's forecast of $3.23 bln; Most of SANM's competitors have traded lower tonight, including Celestica (CLS) which reported better than expected Q3 (Dec) results tonight