Wall Street Brief: Sprint Makes a Move on Clearwire, Microsoft and Google Earnings On Deck

Rosneft has made a $28 billion cash and stock offer to purchase BP’s (NYSE:BP) stake in TNK-BP. The company would then receive $15 billion-$20 billion in cash and a 10 percent to 20 percent stake in Rosneft. Earlier in the week, Rosneft had agreed to acquire the 50 percent TNK-BP share owned by four Russian billionaires who waived their right on Thursday to bid for BP’s stake after they were unable to raise the requisite money.

Sprint (NYSE:S) is trying to take control of Clearwire (NASDAQ:CLWR) without purchasing it, reported the Wall Street Journal. Sprint is attempting to make a deal with Clearwire’s other investors such as Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) and Intel (NASDAQ:INTC). This would enable them to appoint a majority of directors to Clearwire’s board.

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Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) will report earnings today after the bell. Microsoft is expected to appear stagnant while Google will paint a growth story. Microsoft’s FQ1 EPS is expected to fall to $0.56 from $0.68 from the previous year while revenue will drop  5.5 percent to $16.42 billion. In contrast, Google’s EPS is seen as rising to $10.65 from its previous $9.72 with revenue jumping 58 percent to $11.87 billion.

Verizon (NYSE:VZ)’s third quarter numbers met expectations with a rising net profit of 15.5 percent to $1.59 billion. EPS was $0.64 and revenue increased 3.9 percent to $29.01 billion. Wireless revenue jumped 7.3 percent to $19 billion thanks to increasing price rises and the iPhone 5 (NASDAQ:AAPL) launch; the unit gained 1.8 million net new subscribers. Verizon is on track to meet its 2012 goals.

Nokia (NYSE:NOK) reported a third quarter $0.07 loss after a $0.03 profit in the previous year. Revenue fell 19 percent to EUR 7.23 billion. Lumia volumes fell prior to the W8 phone launch, but Nokia said there is consumer demand for the phones. The company also had strong Asha phone sales for emerging markets, while overall handset volumes increased in the third quarter.

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