People To Watch
The Week Ahead: April 4-8, 2005
Forbes.com staff, 04.02.05, 6:00 AM ET
A look ahead to the week's doers and doings in business, entertainment and technology:
Background on Balsillie The rumor mill is jumping with talk that a takeover of BlackBerry wireless e-mail device maker Research in Motion (nasdaq: RIMM - news - people ) is in the works. The company's stock climbed last week on new speculation that mobile phone giant Nokia (nyse: NOK - news - people ) might be interested in a purchase. Of course, RIM has been the object of takeover rumors before, and the company's $14.4 billion market capitalization would make it a very pricey purchase. Expect CEO James Balsillie to be asked about it when the company reports its fourth-quarter and fiscal 2005 earnings on Tuesday. Analysts expect the company to report a profit of 65 cents per share, up from 25 cents a year ago. --David M. Ewalt
It's nice to know that Accenture (nyse: ACN - news - people ) practices what it preaches when it comes to boosting profits. On Thursday, William Green, chief executive of the world's largest management and consulting firm, is expected to report fiscal second-quarter earnings of 32 cents per share, up from the 29 cents a year ago. Accenture offers tips to global corporations in areas such as strategic planning, supply, personnel, planning and computer technology. --Scott Reeves
Background on Green
Background on McKinnell On Tuesday, Pfizer (nyse: PFE - news - people ) will host its long-awaited annual analyst meeting. Chief Executive Hank McKinnell and his team will detail the drug giant's plans now that the debate over the safety of its Cox-2 inhibitors, Celebrex and Bextra, is finally cooling down. Some analysts may try to divine how much risk there is to the patent for Lipitor, the $10 billion-per-year cholesterol drug that is Pfizer's biggest seller. Another big question could be about the drug giant's experimental pill to raise HDL, the "good cholesterol"--new data on the drug is expected next year. Also, analysts may pressure Pfizer on whether it might cut its sales force, ending a long-standing arms race with drug giants such as Merck (nyse: MRK - news - people ) and GlaxoSmithKline (nyse: GSK - news - people ), or, in an idea advanced by A.G. Edwards analyst Al Rauch, spin off its basic research labs to create biotech companies, which might generate more value for investors. Investors and analysts wait with bated breath--Pfizer shares have dropped more than 25% this year. --Matthew Herper
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