Can VMWare Keep Beating Its Earnings Expectations?

Software-maker VMWare (VMW) will report its earnings for the fourth quarter of 2009 on Monday after the market closes. Analysts expect it to report earnings of 26 cents a share for the quarter. Over the last five quarters, it has beaten expectations four times, by an average of 41% -- although it has been doing so by slimmer margins in the most recent quarters. (The one time VMWare failed to beat expectations, it matched them.)