Silicon Valley earnings please investors

It was near a clean sweep of positive revenues for Bay Area research companies last week, with Intel, Apple, Yahoo, VMware and Juniper Networks all reporting better-than-expected results. Intel, the world's largest chipmaker, got a boost from server sales, helping it withstand a slowdown in the personal-computer industry. Like other tech firms, it's benefiting from the shift to cloud computing, which relies on massive data centers to deliver software and information over the Internet. Corporate buyers as well are taking everything into account replacing aging equipment in the wake of the recession.

Apple sold 18.7 million iPhones last quarter, more than double the amount a year previously. The device became available on Verizon's network for the first time in February, opening up a flood of new clients. The sales helped Apple blow past analysts' profit and revenue estimates, allaying concerns that the Japanese earthquake and iPad shortages will eat into results. "To say it's extraordinary doesn't do it justice," Apple investor Ryan Jacob said afterwards the revenues report. Verizon's quarterly financials as well got a boost from the iPhone. The company signed up 906,000 new contract clients last quarter.

Wells Fargo, the nation's largest home lender, posted a 48 percent gain in first-quarter net income on Wednesday, reaching a record $3.76 billion. However the results got a one-time boost from the San Francisco bank releasing money from its reserves. Investors were more focused on Wells Fargo's shrinking revenue and loans outstanding. Shares dropped 4.1 percent following the results.

Seagate Innovation announced plans to buy Samsung Electronics' hard-disk drive business, marking another round of consolidation for the industry. Seagate, based in Scotts Valley, will pay $1.38 billion in cash and stock for the division. Seagate is playing catch-up with Western Digital, which became the industry leader last month when it agreed to buy Hitachi's storage business.