Apple, whose founder Steve Jobs died Oct. 5, is defying the consumer slowdown with higher sales of iPhones and iPads. The Cupertino, California-based company's adjusted earnings per share for its most recent fiscal quarter is forecast to jump to $7.23 from $4.64 a year earlier, analysts' estimates show.
Microsoft Corp. sales are projected by analysts to rise 7 percent to $17.3 billion, as corporate purchases of Office software and server programs make up for weaker consumer demand for personal computers.
While Google is benefiting from gains in the search-engine market, the industry is showing signs of a slowdown. Spending on U.S. search advertising rose 7 percent in the third quarter, down from 12 percent growth in the second quarter, according to IgnitionOne Inc., an online marketing company.
"The data shows consumer strain in response to perceived weaker economic conditions," Jordan Rohan, an analyst at Stifel Nicolaus & Co. in New York, said in an Oct. 5 research note in which he downgraded Google to "hold" from "buy."
Analysts project Google to have third-quarter earnings minus some items of $8.76, up 15 percent from the $7.64 reported a year earlier. Fourth-quarter earnings should also rise 15 percent to $10.07. That's a slowdown from 36 percent growth in the second quarter and 20 percent in the first.
With demand slowing, earnings this quarter will give investors a good idea which companies are better equipped to face a downturn, McCormick of Bahl & Gaynor said.
"When you look at what has happened since August --whether it be the debt negotiations, the downgrade, the continued mess in Europe and the volatility -- it's logical to conclude that that will have an impact on economic activity and earnings," McCormick of Bahl & Gaynor said. "I think you're going to see stronger companies begin to separate themselves from their weaker competitors."