Viacom (nyse: VIAb -  news  -  people ) will report results for the fourth quarter on Thursday morning. Analysts polled by Thomson First Call expect the media giant to report quarterly earnings of 38 cents per share and revenue of $6.36 billion. In January, Prudential Equity Group raised the fourth-quarter estimate for Viacom but said it expects 2005 guidance to come in under Street expectations and "is likely to be a near-term negative for the stock." The research firm reiterated an "overweight" rating and $43 price target on Viacom. "In our view, public comments by current management suggest that the assets had been underinvested in during the prior regime. In addition, given that [Chairman and Chief Executive] Sumner Redstone's successor will not be chosen until 18 months to two years from now, we believe current management is hardly incented to 'knock the cover off the ball' in 2005," it said. "As a result, we think that 2005 guidance is likely to be a range for which current estimates either represent the high end of that range or are above the range altogether."

Marvell Semiconductor (nasdaq: MRVL - news - people ) will report fourth-quarter earnings on Thursday. The Wall Street consensus calls for revenue of $337 million and earnings of 23 cents per share, or a 64% increase from the year-ago period. Earlier this month, Goldman Sachs maintained a "neutral" outlook for the semiconductor industry and said it continues to see chip supply and demand as "mediocre at best." The research firm said it expects sales to grow 10% in 2005, adding that the "best way to make money is to position for catalysts and an inflection in distributor inventory." Marvell Semiconductor is among the firm's top five picks in the chip sector, along with Freescale Semiconductor, National Semiconductor, Microchip Technology and Intel.

Autodesk (nasdaq: ADSK - news - people ) will announce fourth-quarter earnings on Tuesday after the closing bell. The software firm is expected to report quarterly earnings of 28 cents per share and sales of $344 million. In late January, Banc of America Securities downgraded Autodesk to "sell" from "neutral" and said a survey of 30 resellers indicated that "while most resellers are on track to meet plan, business momentum may be slowing." The research firm cut its target price to $25 from $31. "Valuations are ahead of fundamentals, in our view. Shares trade at a 50% premium to our applications sector on a '05 cash adjusted price-to-earnings basis," said Banc of America. "Also, historically, Autodesk's price-to-earnings multiples have contracted whenever revenue growth decelerates."

Ciena (nasdaq: CIEN - news - people ) will announce first-quarter results on Wednesday. The network equipment maker is expected to post a quarterly loss of 5 cents per share and sales of $89 million. In the year-ago quarter, Ciena had a loss of 8 cents per share on sales of $66 million. Goldman Sachs upgraded Ciena to "in-line" from "underweight" in January and said shares have upside potential of 20%. "Top-line momentum should build in 2005 on the back of $100 million or more in new contracts for Ciena's switching products from wireless and wireline carriers, a push into Asia of their access technology, and the potential emergence of a $150 million to 200 million revenue opportunity in the corporate market," said Goldman Sachs.

Novell (nasdaq: NOVL - news - people ) is set to report earnings for the first quarter on Tuesday. Analysts expect the software company to report earnings of 2 cents per share and revenue of $285 million. Last month, Banc of America Securities upgraded Novell to "buy" from "neutral" and said the risk/reward scenario "looks attractive at current levels." The firm cited a number of potential catalysts for shares including continued growth of SuSE Linux products, the recent release of OES (Open Enterprise Server) and the potential for a stock buyback in fiscal 2005. "We believe there is room for upside to the current valuation if Novell can even modestly improve its profitability over the next 12 months," it said. "While Novell has yet to show consistent execution and the ability to meaningfully increase its profitability since acquiring SuSE, we believe the integration between the two companies is now largely complete and expectations for 2005 are reasonable and may leave some room for upside." Banc of America also raised the price target for Novell to $8.50 from $7.50. The stock has declined more than 13% so far this year.