By Nicola Leske and Sakthi Prasad

(Reuters) – U.S. telecommunications group Verizon Communications Inc posted a record quarterly profit thanks to its wireless business, even as corporate customers delayed renewing contracts amid continued economic uncertainty at home and abroad.

Verizon said on Thursday it was on track to meet 2012 financial goals, with capital spending for the year expected to be lower than the $16.2 billion total in 2011.

Oct 18 (Reuters) – U.S. telecommunications group Verizon
Communications Inc posted a record quarterly profit
thanks to its wireless business, even as corporate customers
delayed renewing contracts amid continued economic uncertainty
at home and abroad.

Verizon said on Thursday it was on track to meet 2012
financial goals, with capital spending for the year expected to
be lower than the $16.2 billion total in 2011.

By Nicola Leske

(Reuters) – IBM posted a quarterly revenue miss and barely beat analyst expectations for earnings per share as customers put off spending on big ticket items and a stronger dollar hit the company’s top line.

Businesses and governments are holding back on spending on information technology amid economic uncertainty in Europe and ahead of U.S. elections next month.

By Nicola Leske

(Reuters) – IBM posted a quarterly revenue miss and barely beat analyst expectations for earnings per share as customers put off spending on big ticket items and a stronger dollar hit the company’s top line.

International Business Machines Corp, which has shifted its focus to higher-margin software and services from tech products, said on Tuesday that earnings per share, excluding items, were $3.62, just beating average analysts’ estimates of $3.61.

NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – It’s this year’s biggest technology acquisition and the largest outbound deal in Japan’s history. But game-changing, it is not.

Softbank Corp’s (9984.T: Quote, Profile, Research) pricey $20 billion bid to buy control of No. 3 U.S. telecoms company Sprint Nextel Corp (S.N: Quote, Profile, Research) marks a bold move by billionaire CEO Masayoshi Son beyond his flagging home market. Some analysts say it hands the U.S. company much-needed firepower to buy peers and build out high-speed networks.

NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – It’s this year’s biggest technology acquisition and the largest outbound deal in Japan’s history. But game-changing, it is not.

Softbank Corp’s (9984.T: Quote, Profile, Research) pricey $20 billion bid to buy control of No. 3 U.S. telecoms company Sprint Nextel Corp (S.N: Quote, Profile, Research) marks a bold move by billionaire CEO Masayoshi Son beyond his flagging home market. Some analysts say it hands the U.S. company much-needed firepower to buy peers and build out high-speed networks.

NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – It’s this year’s biggest technology acquisition and the largest outbound deal in Japan’s history. But game-changing, it is not.

Softbank Corp’s (9984.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) pricey $20 billion bid to buy control of No. 3 U.S. telecoms company Sprint Nextel Corp (S.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) marks a bold move by billionaire CEO Masayoshi Son beyond his flagging home market. Some analysts say it hands the U.S. company much-needed firepower to buy peers and build out high-speed networks.

By Mari Saito and Tim Kelly and Nicola Leske

(Reuters) Japanese mobile operator Softbank Corp said it will buy about 70 percent of Sprint Nextel Corp, the third-largest U.S. carrier, for $20.1 billion – the most a Japanese firm has spent on an overseas acquisition.

The deal, announced by Softbank’s billionaire founder and chief Masayoshi Son and Sprint Chief Executive Dan Hesse at a packed news conference in Tokyo on Monday, gives Softbank entry into a U.S. market that is still growing, while Japan’s market is stagnating.

By Siddharth Cavale and Nicola Leske

(Reuters) – Software maker Informatica Corp (INFA.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) rattled investors with a warning on Thursday about worsening business conditions in Europe, sending its shares down over 25 percent and weighing on other U.S. tech stocks.

Informatica’s software, which helps companies pull together data so they can analyze business trends, is used alongside that made by bigger software companies so its weakness often drags down peers.

By Nicola Leske

(Reuters) – Security software maker Palo Alto Networks (PANW.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), which went public in July, promised shareholders continued revenue growth after it beat fourth-quarter revenue and earnings estimates on rising demand for protection against network security attacks.

Palo Alto Networks, which sells firewalls to businesses that prevent data breaches and block malware and viruses, said it expects revenue in its first fiscal quarter to be in a range of $80 million to $84 million.