VENTURE CAPITAL POST

Hewlett Packard Enterprises (HPE) has beaten analysts' forecasts for the first quarter earnings. HPE has posted earnings per share (EPS) of 41 cents a share for first quarter as against the 40 cents per share of average forecast made by analysts. Hewlett Packard Enterprises is expected close Tsinghua deal by end of May as soon as it gets Chinese regulatory approval.

International Business Machines Corp (IBM) has announced more than projected fall in revenues as the stronger US currency put pressure on demand from China and other emerging economies. As a result, IBM has lowered its profit forecast for the full year. The revenues were down 13.9 percent to $19.28billion for the quarter ending September as against the forecast of $19.62bn. The latest drop in revenues marks the continuous fall for 14 quarters in a row.

Wal-Mart's stock tumbled on the Wall Street following the forecast of earnings drop in the range of 6-12 percent hammered down the market sentiment. Wal-Mart shares fell 10.04 percent or $6.70 to $60.03 indicating biggest fall in a day during the past three decades. The stock was already trading 22 percent lower before the latest drop. Gearing up to compete with Amazon, Wal-Mart Stores Inc hiked investment in internet technology and raised wages. The earnings are expected to be flat for the current fiscal year and one or two percent lower than the previous forecast. The third quarter results from Wal-Mart are scheduled on 17 November.

As part of its restructuring plan to reduce costs, Monsanto Co has decided to cut 2,600 jobs. The slashing of jobs accounts for 11.6 percent of total employees at Monsanto. With an objective of boosting confidence for investors, Monsanto has taken up share buyback exercise.

Is the $200 price target for Apple's stock achievable considering the estimated sales realization from iPhone 6 and Apple Watch? Some analysts say yes and some say it's overpricing from the current price of $110. Overdependence on price-earnings (PE) multiples and surplus cash are being added to $200 target.

Chinese e-Commerce major Alibaba Group Holding's stock (NYSE: BABA) continued to ease on Wall Street for the fourth consecutive month following the reduction in revenue forecast for the next quarter of the year. Alibaba shares fell 13 percent in September and this continuous skid since May brought down the market value to $75billion. The economy sluggishness is impacting the e-commerce sales. Of late, Alibaba Group is facing cut-throat competition in online sales. Analysts hold the view that lot of uncertainty in store for Alibaba Group in the days to come.

American technology giant in global database industry Oracle Corporation is shifting its focus on cloud offerings. Of late the database major has been facing stiff competition from new technology companies which offer cost-effective solutions via the internet. The shift to cloud could affect Oracle's revenues coming from business fee from existing customers running Oracle software at their data centers, analyses technology experts.

South African insurance major MMI Holdings Ltd suffered drop of 9.8 percent in its profit for the year ending June following the market volatility, economy slowdown and inflation rise. Cape Town-based MMI Holdings is the third largest insurance company in South Africa. The company's net income eased from rand 3.3 billion to rand 2.98billion. Earnings per share (EPS) dropped 11 percent to rand 1.81.

The encouraging rise in revenues and further growth potential have helped industrial equipment hire group Ashtead to top the FTSE-100 stocks in terms of price rise in the market.

Cisco Systems, Inc. (CSCO), Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (BABA), Macy's Inc. (M) and News Corporation (NWS) will announce the companies' quarterly financial results on Wednesday.

McDonald's suffers drop in sales after losing business to other food chains. Its rebound plan fails to deliver the desired results, focusing more on popular regional menu items.

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK.L) may ditch a plan to return 4 billion pounds ($6.1 billion) to investors, some analysts believe, as the drugmaker prepares to set out its vision for the reshaped group and a new chairman takes the helm.

Israel's Teva Pharmaceutical Industries said it would buy U.S. neurology drug company Auspex Pharmaceuticals Inc for an equity value of $3.5 billion to boost its portfolio of treatments for the central nervous system.

Europe's oil majors will strike a sober note in their fourth-quarter results and investors will focus on companies' plans to maintain cherished dividends and their strategies to cope with the oil prices collapse that caught many unawares.