Microsoft Corp, whose Windows operating system runs more than 90 percent of personal computers, may miss fiscal fourth-quarter profit forecasts because PC sales are worsening, analysts said.
Microsoft shares fell for a seventh day on Monday, dropping US$1.14 to US$66.88. The stock has fallen 9 percent since June 7, erasing more than US$36 billion in market value.
The software maker's results have been in line with forecasts since December, when it slashed earnings and sales targets. That performance has boosted Microsoft's stock 54 percent this year, making it the top performer in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
With PC makers saying they've yet to see signs of a recovery, investors are worried that Microsoft may soon fall victim to the weakening economy.
"It is possible they will miss the numbers this quarter," said Maceo Sloan, chief executive of NCM Capital Management, which holds Microsoft shares in its US$6 billion portfolio.
"There has been a pretty significant deterioration in PC sales." Microsoft spokeswoman Katy Fonner declined to comment.
Chief Financial Officer John Connors couldn't be reached for comment.
Connors said in April that he expected the company would have a fourth-quarter profit of US$0.41 or US$0.42 a share, after a US$0.01 acquisition-related charge, on sales of US$6.3 billion to US$6.5 billion.
Since he made that forecast, company officials haven't discussed earnings, Fonner said.
Some of the biggest PC makers have said their sales are taking a harder hit from the slowdown than they had previously forecast.
They've also said the troubles are spreading from the US to Europe and Asia.
Two weeks ago, PC maker Hewlett-Packard Co said it had become "more cautious" about sales and profit forecasts that it had made just three weeks earlier.
The company's CEO, Carly Fiorina, said the slowdown "may last for quite some time."
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