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A race has broken out for Data Domain Inc (NASDAQ: DDUP). NetApp Inc. (NASDAQ: NTAP) offered $1.5 billion for the company two weeks ago, and EMC Corp. (NYSE: EMC) decided it had to get in on the action, upping the ante to $1.8 billion yesterday. Data Domain shares gained 16% on the news in late trading yesterday, resulting in EMC's bid carrying a 17% premium.

EMC sees Data Domain as its ticket into the market for software-based storage management, as the target company's products help reduce the amount of disk space needed to store data. With large, high-profile clients like AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) and the U.S. Defense Department, Data Domain was able to double its top line to $274 million in 2008. It pulled in net income of $21.6 million last year, up from a loss of $3.7 million in 2007.

For software operator EMC (NYSE: EMC), a key goal was to hit $15 billion in revenues in 2008. Unfortunately, the company missed the mark by about $100 million.

Going into Q3, EMC was on track to hit its goal, but, of course, the economy went into a tailspin in Q4, and EMC couldn't avoid the impact. In the quarter, the company's revenues inched up 5% to $4.02 billion. Net income was $288 million, or $0.14 per share.

Unfortunately, the outlook looks fairly bad for 2009. Based on a variety of surveys, IT spending could drop 10% for the first half of this year.

Here are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

• Apollo Group Inc. (NYSE: APOL) posted its third straight quarter of growth as enrollment soared.
• Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) earnings prospects will pick up after the first quarter, predicts Jim Cramer.
• Coach Inc. (NYSE: COH) lowered its guidance due to slower traffic and sales during the holiday season.
• EMC Corp. (NYSE: EMC) reaffirmed its revenue and earnings guidance and announced job cuts.
• Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) was upgraded as Wall Street's Q4 and full-year estimates came down.
• KB Home (NYSE: KBH) failed to narrow its loss as much as expected but beat revenue estimates.
• Logitech International (NASDAQ: LOGI) withdrew its guidance and said it was cutting its global workforce.
• Mosaic Co. (NYSE: MOS) posted strong Q2 results that easily beat earnings expectations (is it a buy?).
• Navistar International Corp. (NYSE: NAV) 2009 outlook fell short of estimates but it predicted 2010 growth.
• Premier Exhibitions Inc. (NASDAQ: PRXI) worse-than-expected Q3 numbers resulted in an downgrade.
• Satyam Computer Sciences Ltd. (NYSE: SAY) admited that it had been inflating earnings for years.
• Super Micro Computer Inc. (NASDAQ: SMCI) was downgraded after preliminary results missed estimates.
• Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX) now expects a loss in 2008 rather than the profit in its previous guidance.
• WD-40 Co. (NASDAQ: WDFC) topped Q1 expectations but also lowered its guidance, sending shares lower.

For more earnings highlights, see Intel, Walmart, Chevron, Family Dollar, Monsanto and others

Upcoming earnings releases include Alcoa Inc. (NYSE: AA), Infosys (NASDAQ: INFY), Linear Technologies (NASDAQ: LLTC) , Xilinx (NASDAQ: XLNX), Genentech (NYSE: DNA), Intel (NASDAQ: INTC), Marshall & Ilsley (NYSE: MI), Sealy (NYSE: ZZ), Johnson Controls (NYSE: JCI).

Visit AOL Money & Finance for more earnings coverage.

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In the current environment, it's pretty tough selling multimillion-dollar software systems. So, this week EMC (NYSE: EMC), a global software company, announced it is paring back its operations by laying off 2,400 employees (the current workforce stands at 33,000).

However, EMC had some good news. Quarterly revenues are expected to come in at $4 billion, up 4% over the past year. Earnings are projected at $0.13 to $0.14 per share.

If anything, the recession is giving EMC an excuse to restructure itself. Over the past few years, the company has bulked up with major acquisitions and now has an extensive portfolio of software solutions.

So, by reducing operating costs, profits are likely to be robust. After all, EMC provides software that is critical for many organizations and is difficult to unwind.

All in all, Wall Street likes the news. In today's trading, EMC's shares are up 3.5% to $11.57.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Streetsmart Guide to Short Selling: Techniques the Pros Use to Profit in Any Market. He is also the founder of BizEquity, a valuation website.

• Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) surprised when it said that December same-store sales rose 1.7% excluding fuel. This was lower than the average estimate of an increase of 2.8% in a survey of analysts by Thomson Reuters. WMT also cut its forecast for fourth-quarter earnings from continuing operations due to higher expenses and lower-than-expected sales at Sam's Club and Wal-Mart International. WMT shares were down over 8% in premarket trading.
  
• Costco Wholesale Corp. (NASDAQ: COST) reported that for December, same-store sales fell 4%, and total sales fell 2% from the year-earlier month. Comparable sales fell 2% in the U.S. and 11% internationally. This was below analyst estimates of a 3.7% decline. COST shares were down 1.8% in premarket trading.
  
• Sears Holdings (NASDAQ: SHLD) reported that December domestic same-store sales fell 7.3%, with Kmart sales down 1.1% and Sears domestic sales falling 12.8%. Sears also gave revenue and earnings estimates, higher than what analyst estimated. SHLD shares soared over 10% in premarket trading.
  
• Williams-Sonoma Inc. (NYSE: WSM) said that comparable sales in the 8 weeks to Dec. 28 fell 24.2%. Total sales declined 22.6%. The company also said fourth-quarter earnings will likely be at the lower end of the range, much lower than the average estimate. WSM shares were 1.7% higher in premarket trading.
  

• EMC (NYSE: EMC), the data-storage firm, announced 2,400 job cuts, or about 6% of its workforce. EMC also cut the salaries of top executives. Its preliminary results, though, were inline with estimates. EMC shares rose 4.2% in premarket trading.
  
• Dell (NASDAQ: DELL) said it is closing its main plant in Ireland, cutting 1,900 jobs as it is moving production to Poland. Dell shares were down 1.4% in premarket trading.
  
• Lenovo Group warned it expects a loss for its latest quarter and said it will lay off 2,500, or 11%, of its workforce worldwide. Shares plunged over 25% in Hong Kong.

• Citigroup upgraded shares of Cadbury (NYSE: CBY) to Hold from Sell on the company's pricing initiatives and their expectations for margin expansion.
  
• Jefferies upgraded shares of Medicis (NYSE: MRX) to Buy from Hold and raised its target to $16 from $12.50 as they believe the company's settlement with Impax should lift valuation and drive higher earnings.
  
• Cowen upgraded Williams-Sonoma (NYSE: WSM) to Neutral from Underperform on valuation. Shares were also upgraded at Merrill Lynch to Buy from Underperform.
• Signet Group (NYSE: SIG) was raised to Neutral from Sell at Goldman.
  
• EMC Corp (NYSE: EMC) was upgraded to Buy from Accumulate at ThinkPanmure.
  
• DSP Group (NASDAQ: DSPG) was upgraded at RBC Capital to Sector Perform from Underperform.

Shares of VMware Inc. (NYSE: VMW) are headed lower today following a downgrade from Merrill Lynch. The brokerage firm cut its rating on the equity from Buy to Neutral due to valuation concerns; VMW has added more than 60% since its October 21 earnings report. Merrill maintains a $31 price target on VMware, which represents a premium of just 1.4% to the stock's closing price on Tuesday.

It's shaping up to be a rough week for VMW. Yesterday, the tech stock sat out a broad-based rally in the equities market, and slumped to a daily loss of nearly 4% as word hit the Street that Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) chopped its VMware stake in half. Specifically, Intel unloaded about 4.75 million of the 9.5 million VMW shares it purchased in July 2007. According to a regulatory filing, half a million shares each were sold to Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO) and EMC Corp. (NYSE: EMC) -- the latter of which already owns a majority stake in VMW.

With VMW shedding nearly 6% out of the gate this morning, it seems likely that the shares will add on to their year-to-date slump of more than 64%. The stock continues to find resistance from its 10-week and 20-week moving averages, and a reversal of optimism among option traders could accelerate the equity's decline. During the past 10 days, investors on the International Securities Exchange have bought to open nearly two times more calls than puts on VMW.

Elizabeth Harrow is an analyst and financial writer in the research department at Schaeffer's Investment Research. She is featured in the video series Schaeffer's Daily Q&A on SchaeffersResearch.com.

As U.S. stocks continue to struggle under seemingly unrelenting selling pressure, tech-sector heavyweight EMC Corporation (NYSE: EMC) plunged today into single-digit territory for the first time in more than two years. In fact, EMC earlier fell to $9.35, its lowest price since August 2004. However, today's losses are simply an extension of the stock's long-term trend -- EMC has steadily declined since November 2007 under pressure from its 10-month and 20-month moving averages.

The drop into single digits is troubling for EMC, since the round-number $10 region has provided support for the shares for more than 5 years. The stock hasn't closed a single month below this area since April 2003, and it's only made a few short-lived forays below double-digit territory in the intervening months. In fact, prior to today, the equity's annual low stood at $10.10.

EMC pared its losses by the close and settled today 3% lower at $10.12, but the stock isn't out of the woods yet. The multi-year low tagged earlier could prompt some analysts to reevaluate their bullish stance on this once-strong performer. According to Zacks, EMC has garnered 12 Strong Buys, 4 Buys, and 5 Holds, with absolutely no Sell or Strong Sell ratings to be found. This top-heavy configuration leaves the sliding stock highly vulnerable to downgrades or other bearish notes. Any negative commentary from the pros on Wall Street could force EMC to revisit that rarely explored territory south of $10.

Elizabeth Harrow is an analyst and financial writer in the research department at Schaeffer's Investment Research. She is featured in the video series Schaeffer's Daily Q&A on SchaeffersResearch.com.