Facebook plans to file for its initial public offering as soon as Wednesday next week according to multiple reports from Dow Jones Newswires. Morgan Stanley is expected to win the deal to lead the highly anticipated IPO, and Goldman Sachs is also reportedly expected to play a role. According to Dow Jones Newswires, Facebook is currently looking at a valuation between $75 billion and $100 billion. Following next week’s anticipated filing, it will still be several months until the company goes public. The initial offering is expected to raise as much as $10 billion, which would make it the biggest U.S. Internet IPO in history. The record currently stands at $1.9 billion, achieved by Google when it went public in 2004. At $10 billion, Facebook would also best the largest global technology IPO — Infineon’s $5.9 billion offer — by more than 40%.

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As we reach the end of the workday, hordes of iPhone hopefuls are likely getting ready to pack it in and head to their local retailer in an effort to score a shiny new iPhone 4S. As popular as the device has been around the country however, stock-outs are a definite possibility. After all, Sprint and AT&T have both announced record sales and the day isn’t even over. According to an email from a RadioShack spokesperson, The Shack might just be your best bet. “iPhone 4s enthusiasts who are still looking to get their device late this afternoon or over the weekend will find them at their nearby RadioShack,” the company said in the emailed statement. “RadioShack has the iPhone 4S available in 3,000 stores nationwide, and available through its ‘Direct2U’ program in all stores nationwide — customers can buy iPhone 4S at any RadioShack location and have it shipped directly to their homes. Availability of specific configurations (carrier, white vs. black, 16GB vs. 32GB) may vary somewhat across locations. It’s recommended customers call their local store for information.”

HP shareholder Richard Gammell has filed a class-action lawsuit against HP after the company made the drastic decision to kill off the TouchPad in August, which resulted in a 20% drop in share price the following day, Reuters reported. Gammell argued in the suit that HP failed to inform investors the webOS operating system was no longer a major part of the company’s plans moving forward, and that the company had revamped its business plan without telling shareholders. Those actions, Gammell argues, artificially inflated HP’s share price. Gammell is seeking damages for any HP investor who purchased stock between November 22, 2010 and August 18th, 2011.

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Research In Motion will benefit in the near term from the ongoing launch of its new BlackBerry 7 smartphones, which are being described as the vendor’s strongest devices in some time. Sterne Agee analyst Shaw Wu upgraded his rating on RIM stock to Buy from Neutral, increasing his price target to $35 from $28. Wu sees near-term opportunity in RIM, and he thinks new BlackBerry handsets like the Bold 9900 will be well received. ”The key differences this time include a refined user interface and improved hardware including faster processors, better graphics and displays as well as better build quality with its greater use of premium materials,” Wu wrote on Friday. “The company recently launched the new Bold 9900 and Torch 9810 and we see the upcoming launch of the full touchscreen Torch and new lower-end Curve in upcoming 1-2 quarters as future catalysts. RIMM has undoubtedly lost some customers but for loyalists still using 2-3 year old models, these refined updates are a worthy upgrade.” Read on for more.

Wu goes on to add that RIM could capitalize while Nokia transitions from Symbian to Microsoft’s Windows Phone platform, though he did add that there is still concern surrounding s RIM’s long-term fundamentals and the risk of falling handset margins and increased competition. Perhaps most interestingly, however, the analyst says carriers are relaying a desire to broaden their portfolios to include a viable alternative to Google’s Android OS and Apple’s iOS platform, which now dominate the smartphone market. ”In our conservation with carriers, they are increasingly concerned with the growing dominance of GOOG and AAPL and want a viable No. 3 alternative,” Wu wrote. “We believe RIMM benefits being the incumbent and with now a stronger product set.”

Apple has not been able to provide “significant stock” of its new 13-inch MacBook Air notebooks to its indirect reseller channels, including Amazon and Best Buy, AppleInsider reported on Tuesday. Best Buy’s website says it is sold out online while Amazon is currently selling the 128GB and 256GB models for $250 more than the computer’s MSRP. Apple’s web store currently says the computer will ship within 24 hours of purchase and AppleInsider’s checks with 10 stores around the United States revealed that the Cuptertino-based company has had relatively no issues keeping the device in stock in its own retail channels. Only one Los Angeles Apple Store said it was sold out the 13-inch 128GB model. Apple revealed its mid-2011 MacBook Air family on July 20th and the computers were upgraded with Intel’s Core i5 and Core i7 processors and a Thunderbolt I/O port.

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Dell delivered second-quarter earnings on Wednesday that beat the Street’s estimates, reporting net profits of $890 million, or $0.05 per share above analysts’ consensus. The world’s No.2 PC vendor missed revenue estimates however, and it slashed guidance for the remainder of 2011. In a note to investors on Friday, Ticonderoga Securities analyst Brian White told clients to head for the hills and “exit this highway to Dell” before trends get worse. ”Despite the transformation of Dell’s portfolio that we believe will ultimately have a long-term positive impact on the company, we cannot overlook Dell’s high exposure to the public and consumer markets in a period of growing austerity programs and weakening consumer demand,” White wrote. “At the same time, we have concerns regarding Dell’s surging operating expenses as the company invests in new businesses that we believe will result in incrementally higher operating leverage in a tough environment and could cut more deeply into profits versus the last downturn.” White dropped his rating on Dell stock to Sell, setting a new 12-month price target of $9.25. More thoughts from White follow below.

“Putting aside our concerns surrounding weakening demand in key Dell verticals, we really do like what Dell is doing to its portfolio and we believe this will pay off for the company over the next 3-5 years,” White continued. “Although traditionally thought of as simply a leading PC vendor with a strong server franchise, Dell has been aggressively expanding its portfolio in areas such as services, security, storage, software and networking in an effort to provide customers with higher value add enterprise solutions. Specifically, the Perot deal pushed Dell into IT services in a bigger way, while the recent Compellent deal positions the company well for next generation SAN storage solutions and the pending Force10 Networks acquisition is Dell’s first big push into the data center networking market with internally developed solutions.”

The analyst went on to identify several risks the PC vendor currently faces. While White sees Dell’s current valuation on the lower end, he believes coming earnings over the next few quarters may still “surprise on the downside,” with particular considerations given to the weakening economy and government spending cuts. “Given the public spending weakness this time around and higher operating expenses, we believe earnings could have further downside potential,” the analyst said. He continued, “We generally think of IT sales growth at 4-6% per year, however, Dell has not kept up the market over the past five years and the company is only forecasting 1-5% growth for FY12.”

Pasedena, California-based investment management firm Primecap Management Co. recently doubled its investment in BlackBerry vendor Research In Motion. According to a recent regulatory filing, Primecap now owns 26.4 million shares of RIM stock valued at about $577 million as of Monday’s close, and the stake represents approximately 5% of RIM’s total outstanding shares. According to Bloomberg, Primecap’s stake at the end of the second quarter of this year was approximately 2.5%. As numerous analysts continue to cut their price targets on RIM stock, Primecap’s continued investment could represent a vote of confidence in RIM’s new BlackBerry 7 phones and its future QNX phones as well, which are due to begin launching in the first quarter of 2012.

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Apple will release its fiscal third quarter earnings on Tuesday afternoon and analysts have boosted the stock price target in anticipation of a solid quarterly report. The iPhone maker’s shares hit a record high of $373.80 at the close of the day on Monday. BGC analyst Collin Gillis has boosted the price target of Apple’s stock from $390 to $430. “We are more positive on the outlook for share acceleration in the second half as it is reasonable to expect multiple hardware refreshes combined with the back-to-school and holiday shopping quarter,” Gillis told Reuters. A group of analysts recently predicted that Apple will report that it sold between 15 and 20 million iPhones during the quarter, with the average estimate falling at 16.9 million iPhones sold. Apple is expected to “report earnings of $5.84 per share on revenue of $24.9 billion,” Reuters said, citing Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

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Shares of HTC’s stock closed down 3.9% at T$871 on Monday, just three days after the the U.S. International Trade Commission announced that the Taiwanese company was guilty of infringing on two of Apple’s patents. The patents were related to a “system and method for performing an action on a structure in computer-generated data,” and a “real-time signal processing system for serially transmitted data,” but the judge’s ruling is still awaiting the review of a 6-member Commission. “We are highly confident we have a strong case for the ITC appeals process and are fully prepared to defend ourselves using all means possible,” HTC’s general council Grace Lei said on Friday “We strongly believe we have alternate solutions in place for the issues raised by Apple. We look forward to resolving this case, so we can continue creating the most innovative mobile experiences for consumers.” HTC also has an ongoing patent lawsuit against Apple. The Financial Times attributed the sell-off to “investor fears that the legal battle could have wider implications for the competitive balance between Apple and Google Android-based phonemakers like HTC, Samsung, and Motorola.”

[Via 9to5 Mac]

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Zynga, the popular gaming company behind hits such as Farmville — and the owner of other smash titles such as Words with Friends on Android and iPhone — has filed for an initial public offering (IPO), The New York Times reported on Friday. It currently has a $20 billion valuation and has plans to offer 10% of its shares; Morgan Stanley will work on the deal. Mark Pincus, the company’s CEO, expects that Zynga can earn $1 billion through the IPO. Unlike some other recent tech IPOs, which have caused many to claim the industry is in the midst of a “tech bubble,” Zynga has had solid earnings through its business model, which typically relies on in-app purchases for in-game currency. The firm reportedly recorded a profit of $90.6 million in 2011 on revenues of nearly $600 million. Zynga currently remains the top-dog when it comes to gaming on Facebook — it has 272.5 million active users across its biggest titles such as Cityville and Farmville.

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Facing stiff competition from Samsung, LG, and Apple, Motorola Mobility has seen a slump in its share price and market share following a recent downgrade from analyst firm BMO. According to Dow Jones News Wires, Motorola Mobility’s share of the Android market took off like a rocket when it introduced the highly sought-after Motorola DROID on Verizon in 2009. However, its Android share fell from 33% last year to just 14% in the first quarter as other manufacturers began pumping out competing Android devices, some at lower price points. Reportedly, BMO has cut Motorola Mobility’s earnings per share target for the year and has dropped its price target from $26 to $19. Motorola Mobility last closed at $22, down from its 52-week high of $36.54.

It looks like we may finally see Apple unveil its mid-2011 MacBook Air models some time this week. Best Buy has stopped shipping all MacBook Air notebooks as of this past weekend. The online retailer is still taking orders, however, which indicates that Apple will likely not adjust pricing when it issues its refreshed models. Of note, unless Apple introduced an entirely new model at a much lower price point, this puts earlier rumored sales targets of 8 million units well out of reach. Several sellers on the Amazon.com website are showing low inventory or stockouts as well, further supporting the notion that Apple has stopped refreshing distributor inventory as it prepares to begin shipping updated MacBook Air models. Apple’s mid-2011 MacBook Airs are expected to feature Intel’s new Sandy Bridge processors and Thunderbolt I/O ports, among other changes.

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Shares of RIM stock have taken a beating since the company announced devastating first-quarter earnings last Thursday. The Waterloo, Ontario-based BlackBerry maker missed Wall Street’s first-quarter consensus, it lowered its full-year guidance, it announced workforce reductions, it confirmed product delays and investors went running for the door as did a top executive. Since the earnings release last week, RIM’s stock has fallen more than 25%. This is bad news for every RIM investor, but two in particular must be especially upset. RIM Co-CEOs Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie collectively own more than 10% of the company, a stake that helped each man achieve billionaire status. Last year, Lazaridis was ranked the world’s 651st richest man by Forbes with a net worth of $1.9 billion, and Balsillie was No. 692 on the list with a net worth of $1.8 billion. Fast forward to today, and neither man can call himself a billionaire any longer. The cheifs’ stake in the company is still worth more than $1 billion combined, but separately, their net worths are now just roughly $800 million a piece. We doubt the employees set to be laid off in the coming weeks and months will shed any tears for the Co-CEOs’ loss, but it’s just another piece of a puzzle that continues to fall apart. Some analysts believe RIM is hardly out for the count, however, and we agree that the company has a bit of fight left in it. If Balsillie and Lazaridis hope to rejoin the billionaire club, it’s time to put those gloves on and start swinging.

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In the world of computing, no two companies have more history than Microsoft and Apple. In fact, the companys’ history is 10,124 pixels tall. From modest beginnings to IPOs, and later to global domination, Microsoft and Apple are largely responsible for computers as we know them today. Microsoft concentrated on software early and now owns the lion’s share of the global PC market, and more recently, Apple looked to mobile computing to revitalize its business and its market cap. Of course from an investor’s perspective, the stock chart at the bottom says it all, but as is remarkably evident in looking over the meandering paths these two tech titans have taken, no one knows what the future might hold. The full, extremely large infographic can be found after the break.

This infographic has been updated by its creator and the updated version is now found below.

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Following RIM’s first-quarter earnings release on Thursday, the company’s sixth-biggest investor confirmed that it is giving up on the Waterloo, Ontario-based BlackBerry maker. “They are resting on their laurels,” said Stephen Jarislowsky, chairman of Jarislowsky Fraser Ltd., on Friday in an interview with Bloomberg. “Steve Jobs is a much better marketer than RIM,” Jarislowsky added. ”We are on the way out. The stake has been reduced by more than 50% or even more.” As of the end of the first quarter, Jarislowsky Fraser Ltd. owned 10.2 million shares of RIM stock. Earlier on Friday, RBC Capital Markets said RIM still has some fight left in it. Sadly for RIM in this instance, it looks like not everyone agrees.

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