A review of the biggest losers demonstrates how little consumers care about prior successes. Although these companies were the industry darlings once, today consumers may not even remember their names.

Companies such as Nintendo, Research In Motion, Sony and Nokia dominated their markets for a number of years and, in many cases, had few to no serious competitors. These companies often rose to the top because of major breakthrough products, such as the Nintendo Wii, RIM’s BlackBerry and Sony’s Walkman.

But the companies on this list have not managed to adequately follow up these successes with new products and now are losing ground to competitors. Sharp has lost money due to competition from companies like Samsung that have stronger brands and can undercut its prices on TV. Nokia, which continues to do well in the low-end cell phone market, is losing money because it has been unable to make a significant break into the growing smartphone market.

24/7 Wall St. has identified eight of the most popular tech brands that are losing money. To demonstrate these companies’ waning popularity, 24/7 reviewed financial data from their financial statements, as well as data from a number of major research firms.

These are the eight great tech brands losing money.

1. RIM

Research In Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) was, for a time, a leader in the smartphone market. Its BlackBerry phones helped pioneer the industry. The company’s popularity has since waned and it has begun to lose money. In the fourth quarter of fiscal 2012, RIM had a net loss of $125 million, the result of goodwill charges and “an inventory provision taken primarily on certain BlackBerry7 products.” Revenue was down 24% compared to the year prior. According to Comscore, RIM’s share of the U.S. market for smartphone subscribers dropped from 16% last December to 12.3% in March. Meanwhile, the share of smartphones using Google’s (NASDAQ: GOOG) Android rose from 47.3% to 51% over the same period. The company’s BlackBerry 10 handsets, which are being released later this year, may be RIM’s last chance for relevance.

2. Sharp

Sharp reported a record annual loss of $4.67 billion this past April. The company also announced that it expects to continue to lose money in the current fiscal year. Sharp’s losses are primarily due to falling prices and declining sales of its LCD televisions. The Japanese company has been struggling to compete with South Korean manufacturers. In addition, the company spent $1.5 billion in restructuring costs. In March, Sharp sold a 46% stake in its largest plant to Taiwanese rival Hon Hai to soften losses at its television business.

3. EA

Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: EA) reported a net loss of $205 million for the fiscal third quarter ending December 31, 2011, despite generating $1.06 billion in net revenue over the same period. Two of the company’s major titles — FIFA 12 and Battlefield 3 — have each sold more than 10 million copies, a particularly large quantity for games. Madden 12 has sold nearly 5 million. Many experts believe that the company’s launch of The Sims Social — meant as a competitor to Zynga (NASDAQ: ZNGA) products — has not done well. This was viewed as a gamble on EA’s part, as the company has spent hundreds of millions of dollars trying to break into the social games space. It is not the first time for EA to be in the red. The company had a net loss of $322 million in the same quarter the year before.

4. Sony

Sony (NYSE: SNE) was a world leader in a variety of electronic products only a few years ago. As recently as November 2011, the company cut its sales forecast for TVs, cameras and DVD players. The company’s financial situation has only worsened since then. In April 2012, Sony decreased its earnings outlook for the fourth time in less than a year, warning of a potential $6.4 billion net loss in the last fiscal year. The Wall Street Journal said the loss would be “the biggest-ever in the electronics conglomerate’s 65-year history.” Sony has been dealing with ongoing losses in its television segment. In its consumer electronics arm, the company has been struggling to deal with competition from companies like Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Samsung. Sony also has lost its standing in the game console market, which it once owned with the PS2, and in the portable music device market, which it owned with the Walkman.

5. Nintendo

Nintendo was the number one video game console manufacturer in the world thanks to its Wii. In order to better compete, Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Sony slashed prices on their Xbox 360 and PS3 products. Nintendo, as a result, was forced to drop the prices of both its Wii and portable player DS. In April 2012, the company posted a total loss of $461.2 million for the 2011 fiscal year. All three companies also face the growing competition posed by smartphone-based gaming.

6. Nokia

Nokia (NYSE: NOK) has long been the world’s largest handset manufacturer, but it lost that position to Samsung in the first quarter of the year. Its past success was due, in large part, to the company’s low-end cell phone models, which are particularly popular in developing countries. When it came to smartphones, however, Nokia has not kept up. The market continues to be dominated by Samsung and Apple. Nokia’s inability to break into the more profitable smartphone arena has been apparent in the company’s profit and loss statements. In April 2012, the company announced a quarterly net loss of $1.2 billion, blaming “greater than expected competitive challenges.” In an attempt to turn itself around, Nokia has set a joint venture with Microsoft to distribute Windows mobile on its smartphones in exchange for financial and marketing support.

7. Barnes & Noble

Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS) has invested increasing amounts in its Nook e-book reader. But intense competition from other tablet and e-reader companies, including Apple and Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN), has kept the company in the red. For the 39 weeks that ended January 28, 2012, Barnes & Noble lost more than $11 million. The company blamed the increasing losses on continued investments “in its rapidly growing Nook business, including advertising costs and personnel.” To help it with the Nook development costs, Barnes & Noble has also formed an alliance with Microsoft. The software company has made an investment in the book company’s e-book and e-reader businesses in exchange for the creation of Nook models that run the Windows OS.

8. Acer

Acer’s business plan used to rely on the netbook, the cheap, portable and underpowered laptop. In the past two years, however, netbook sales have been disrupted by the surging tablet market, as well as the growing popularity of smartphones. Dropping the price did little to encourage demand. The company reported a massive annual loss of $212 million in 2011. Now the company is focusing on the Utlrabook, Intel’s (NASDAQ: INTC) laptop and effectively the next generation of netbook. It appears the company has not learned its lesson. According to The Verge, Acer Global President Jianren Weng predicts that PC Ultrabooks will drop to $499 in 2013 to compete with Apple’s iPad. Unfortunately, that is several hundred dollars less than the company needs to make money.

Charles B. Stockdale

AECOM Technology Corporation (NYSE: ACM) Cut to Underperform at BofA/ML.

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ALNY) Started as Overweight at JPMorgan.

Biogen Idec Inc. (NASDAQ: BIIB) Reiterated Buy with $145 target at Argus.

BP plc (NYSE: BP) Cut to Underweight at Barclays.

Capital One Financial Corp. (NYSE: COF) Raised to Hold from Sell at Argus.

China Petroleum & Chemical (NYSE: SNP), or Sinopec, named Bear of the Day at Zacks.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ: CTSH) Raised to Outperform at R.W. Baird.

Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA) Raised to Buy at Needham.

El Paso Pipeline Partners, LP (NYSE: EPB) Started as Outperform with $38 target at Credit Suisse.

Embraer SA (NYSE: ERJ) Cut to Neutral at Citigroup.

Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) maintained Buy with $19 target at Argus.

Louisiana-Pacific Corporation (NYSE: LPX) Raised to Buy at Deutsche Bank.

Manulife Financial (NYSE: MFC) named Bull of the Day at Zacks.

Millennial Media Inc. (NYSE: MM) Started as Neutral at Goldman Sachs; Started as Equal-weight at Morgan Stanley; Started as Equal-weight at Barclays.

Rackspace Hosting, Inc. (NYSE: RAX) maintained Neutral with $57 target at Goldman Sachs.

Synacor Inc. (NASDAQ: SYNC) Cut to Underperform at BofA/ML.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: VRTX) Raised to Equal-weight at Morgan Stanley.

Wynn Resorts Ltd. (NASDAQ: WYNN) Maintained Outperform with $166 target at Credit Suisse.

If you enjoyed the top analyst upgrades and downgrades, you can join our free email newsletter that includes analyst summaries each morning sent right to your inbox.  We also cover top issues such as IPOs, special financial exclusives, mergers and more. Sign up in the box below.

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JON C. OGG

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg begins the company’s IPO road show. (Reuters)

Comscore says people spent more time on Facebook via mobile devices than on PCs during March. (Reuters)

Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) CEO Scott Thompson issues an apology to employees over a resume misstatement scandal as its board meets to determine his fate. (Reuters)

Gasoline prices fall for the fifth-consecutive week. (WSJ)

The political turmoil in Greece threatens to break its bailout agreement with Europe. (WSJ)

Walt Disney’s (NYSE: DIS) ABC News and Univision to start a 24-hour news channel broadcast in English. (WSJ)

Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: EA) stock is hurt as its delays launching important games. (WSJ)

The Ontario Teachers Pension Plan says it is opposed to Sprint-Nextel (NYSE: S) CEO Dan Hesse’s reelection to the board of the telecom firm. (WSJ)

Lenovo plans to develop products other than PCs. (WSJ)

A court says that Google’s (NASDAQ: GOOG) Android software violates Oracle’s (NASDAQ: ORCL) IP, but the financial damages likely will be light. (WSJ)

Regulators probably will approve a plan by Anadarko Petroleum (NYSE: APC) to drill 3,700 natural-gas wells in eastern Utah. (WSJ)

The Fed says consumer borrowing rose 10.2% in March. (WSJ)

Hollande of France and Merkel of Germany will meet to talk about the future of the eurozone. (WSJ)

The FAA will delay plans to upgrade fuel tanks on many airline planes. (WSJ)

A new wave of start-ups works on programs to upload personal videos to smartphones. (WSJ)

Spain will begin a new program to help the balance sheets of its troubled banks. (WSJ)

High-yield bond yields hit record lows. (WSJ)

Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) to sell high-end fashion products. (NYT)

The sales of used SUVs remain good as people move to more fuel-efficient new cars. (NYT)

Scientists begin to look at whether airline seats are strong enough for some heavy passengers. (NYT)

A failure of Greek parties to form a coalition may lead to a new round of elections. (FT)

Spain will have to spend billions of dollars to rescue weak banks. (FT)

Iran will take yuan as payment for oil. (FT)

A credit rating agency downgrade of Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) would prompt it to increase its collateral sharply. (FT)

Antitrust investigations against Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) in Europe expand. (Bloomberg)

Douglas A. McIntyre

The company is also calling this coming year a year it breaks away from the pack with a very different profile than the traditional game companies and capabilities. It also noted that none of the company’s new digital competitors can match EA. The video game giant further noted 20% non-GAAP EPS growth in fiscal 2012, and it now expects over 30% growth in 2013, based upon the midpoint of own guidance.

In this past quarter, EA generated net revenue of $977 million, and that was slightly ahead of its guidance of $925 to $975 million. Non-GAAP diluted earnings per share of $0.17 was in line with its guidance of $0.10 to $0.20 EPS. Thomson Reuters had estimates of $0.16 EPS and $958.5 million in revenues.

Guidance is being offered for a year out to its February 2013 year-end: $4.3 billion in sales and $1.05 to $1.20 EPS (both non-GAAP of course) against Thomson Reuters estimates of $1.12 EPS and $4.5 billion in sales.

Next quarter guidance is being put at -$0.45 to -$0.40 EPS and $500 million in revenue (both also non-GAAP) against Thomson Reuters estimates of -$0.33 EPS and $577.9 million in sales.

EA shares closed up $0.01 at $15.13 against a 52-week range of $14.48 to $26.13; shares are down about 7.3% at $13.90 in the after-hours session.

JON C. OGG

The top earnings we are looking at are as follows: Dendreon Corporation (NASDAQ: DNDN); Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA); Rackspace Hosting Inc. (NYSE: RAX); The Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS); Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO); Macy’s Inc. (NYSE: M); Priceline.com Incorporated (NASDAQ: PCLN); and Nuance Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: NUAN).

We have taken estimates and price targets from Thomson Reuters consensus estimates and have added in color on each.

The shape of the biotech sector is likely to hinge based on the earnings of Dendreon Corporation (NASDAQ: DNDN).  VIVUS Inc. (NASDAQ: VVUS) also reports on Monday but Dendreon has many things that biotech investors want: a product on the market, a controversial story, a stock way off its post-approval highs, a history of soft sales with the promise of better times ahead, and a rather large short interest.  This is a sales story rather than an earnings story: Thomson Reuters expects sales of $81.2 million for the last quarter, $90.1 million for the quarter ahead (the quarter we are in now, and $378.3 million in 2012.  These sales are all from Provenge for late-stage prostate cancer.  This is the one that will set the tone for biotech during the week and this stock is back down closer to $11 after having popped to $15 from $8 earlier this year.

Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA) is no longer the leading game company for investors, but it is one of the largest game makers in the world.  Its earnings are also ahead of the larger video game giant Activision Blizzard Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI) which reports later in the week.  This is also considered one of the throw-away quarters of the video game sector.  Thomson Reuters expects E.A. to report $0.17 EPS on $959.56 million in sales, with next quarter expected to be -$0.32 EPS on $580.9 million in sales.  This will mark the year-end report and the growth in the year ahead is expected to go to $1.13 EPS from $0.84 EPS expected and sales are expected to grow to $4.5 billion from $4.17 billion expected.

Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM) is down 5.5% this morning at $36.60 on over 100,000 shares.  The media and content accelerator beat earnings estimates even though earnings were down 15%.  Despite a revenue gain, the company announced that its CEO would step down from the company by the end of 2013.

Cirrus Logic, Inc. (NASDAQ: CRUS) rose 11% ahead of the close to $23.09 today, but shares are up another 8% or so on over 500,000 shares since the market closed after reporting revenues and earnings ahead of estimates.  This will mark a 52-week high.

Citrix Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CTXS) beat earnings and raised guidance; the stock was up 6.5% last night and shares are now up 8.3% at $23.09 on almost 50,000 shares.

Crocs, Inc. (NASDAQ: CROX) had a 32% earnings gain is being trumped with an outlook that is not as robust as investors were hoping.  Shares were down over 8% last night but the stock is down only about 4.5% at $21.04 this morning.

Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA) is trading up almost 8% at $16.20 and we have seen almost 500,000 shares trade hands.  There is a rumor of a buyout or of some sort of deal involving the company but details are not that clear as of yet.

Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ: EQIX) won on an earnings gain yet again and shares were up 7.6% last night; now shares are up 8.5% at $162.21 and that is a new 52-week high above $161.56 if it holds.

Heartware International, Inc. (NASDAQ: HTWR) is up over 15% at $80.10 on more than 100,000 shares; the company received a favorable FDA Advisory Committee vote for its Ventricular Assist System to bridge  transplant for patients with end-stage heart failure.

H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE: HRB) claimed a record year in total tax clients the company is shedding some 350 jobs and is shutting some 250 stores in order to save money.  Shares were down over 10% last night and are now down 13.9% at $14.41 pre-market.

Logitech International SA (NASDAQ: LOGI) reported earnings, but this is up because of a change made in its executive management in what investors will hope is a solid turnaround.  Shares are up over 13% at $8.85 in thin pre-market trading.

Nuance Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: NUAN) issued guidance that appears to be above expectations and shares are continuing their surge.  This is up almost 13% on almost 200,000 shares pre-market.

Skechers U.S.A., Inc. (NYSE: SKX) is up 16% at $17.34 in thin pre-market trading despite a huge drop in sales and despite a loss as the cleaning out of inventory and restructuring is taking hold with pairs sold on the rise.

Stamps.com Inc. (NASDAQ: STMP) is up 11.3% at $31.50 in thin volume pre-market after it grew handily:  27% in its core PC postage revenues and up 41% in non-GAAP earnings per share.

TriQuint Semiconductor, Inc. (NASDAQ: TQNT) rose over 7% yesterday as an Apple-winner, but shares are down huge as guidance fell short of estimates.  Maybe Apple drove too hard of a bargain.  The drop was over 13% last night and the drop this morning is 14.6% at $4.71 on over 350,000 shares.

Xilinx, Inc. (NASDAQ: XLNX) showed a net income drop but its outlook for the current quarter is signaling improvements are on the way.  Shares were up over 7% last night and that is the same today with a gain of 7.36% to $36.85 on more than 50,000 shares in the pre-market.

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JON C. OGG

The 5 strongest charts in the technology sector are as follows: Crown Castle International Corp. (NYSE: CCI); VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSN); Red Hat, Inc. (NYSE: RHT); Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ: INTU); and salesforce.com, Inc. (NYSE: CRM).  These strongest names are up 31.4% year to date against a 8% gain for the S&P 500 Index.

The 5 weakest charts in the technology sector are currently the following: First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR); Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA); SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ: SNDK); Windstream Corporation (NASDAQ: WIN); and Frontier Communications Corporation (NASDAQ: FTR).  These weakest names are down 22.5% year to date and down almost 10% so far in April.

If you click on the chart and open it the chart can expand on your screen for a larger resolution for easier viewing.

The methodology here generates visual and contextual results for technical trading analysis and trading opportunities based upon custom criteria for investors.  You can try the Chartlabpro.com for 30 days using promo code Chartp2p8i.

Today’s projection could spell further caution for Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI), Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA), and Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO).  One issue which could still be a thorn in the side of the video game industry is the freemium games and social games from Zynga, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZNGA) and others.

Stern Agee’s research team for interactive entertainment and internet stocks noted, “U.S. video game software sales in March 2012 were down 25% to 30% year over year, slightly worse than February’s 23% decline. We believe our estimate is slightly below the Street’s.”

The forward data is a bit ominous as well because the April comparable sales were up 16% a year ago and that is likely to translate to another double-digit drop as well.

The firm noted strength may arrive in May and noted, “We expect software sales in the month of May to improve (and potentially be up) driven by the launch of Max Payne 3, Diablo III and Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Future Soldier compared to L.A. Noire and a couple of smaller titles.”

If the data is really ugly on Thursday, video game stocks could have a very rough day on Friday just from the headline shocks.

While the broad market is up, video game stocks are lower.  GameStop Corporation (NYSE: GME) is down 0.5% at $21.31, Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI) is down 0.3% at $12.33, Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA) is up 1.6% at $15.80, and Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO) is up only $0.01 at $14.75.  Zynga, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZNGA) is also lower by 0.9% at $11.41.

JON C. OGG

Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI) Started as Buy at Stifel Nicolaus.

Apollo Group Inc. (NASDAQ: APOL) Cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.

Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC) Cut to Neutral at Baird.

Buffalo Wild Wings Inc. (NASDAQ: BWLD) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.

Dril-Quip, Inc. (NYSE: DRQ) named as Bear of the Day at Zacks.

Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA) Started as Buy at Stifel Nicolaus.

The Kroger Company (NYSE: KR) named Bull of the Day at Zacks.

Micron Technology Inc. (NYSE: MU) Started as Buy at Jefferies.

Saia Inc. (NASDAQ: SAIA) named as value stock of the day at Zacks.

SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ: SNDK) started as Hold at Jefferies.

Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE: SCCO) Raised to Overweight at Morgan Stanley.

Vale S.A. (NYSE: VALE) Raised to Overweight at Morgan Stanley.

If you enjoyed the top analyst upgrades and downgrades, you can join our free email newsletter that includes analyst summaries each morning sent right to your inbox.  We also cover top issues such as IPOs, special financial exclusives, mergers and more. Sign up in the box below.

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JON C. OGG

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down about 2 points to 12,291.73 (-0.02%), the NASDAQ rose more than 6 points (0.25%) to 2,625.20, and the S&P 500 rose 0.01% or less than 1 point to 1,265.47.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including VMWare Inc. (NYSE: VMW) raised to ‘outperform’ at Oppenheimer; Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) maintained ‘buy’ with a price target of $18 at BofA/Merrill Lynch; Sony Corp. (NYSE: SNE) Japanese target price cut by Barclays; Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA) maintained ‘buy’ with a $28 price target at BofA/Merrill Lynch; and Sempra Energy Inc. (NYSE: SRE) reiterated as ‘buy’ with a $61 target price at Argus. Delphi Automotive (NYSE: DLPH) received four ratings this morning: initiated as ‘outperform’ at Credit Suisse; started as ‘buy’ at BofA/Merrill Lynch; started as ‘overweight’ at JPMorgan; and started as ‘outperform’ at R.W. Baird.

Here are today’s post-earnings news reactions with prices during the last half-hour of trading: Cal-Maine Foods Inc. (NASDAQ: CALM) is up nearly 5% at $35.84; and DemandTec, Inc. (NASDAQ: DMAN), which is being acquired by IBM Corp. (NYSE: IBM), is down about -0.04% at $13.13. This is the beginning of a very light week for earnings.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Sears Holding Co. (NASDAQ: SHLD) is down about -26% at $33.95, a new 52-week low. The department store has announced that it will miss its previous earnings forecast by at least 50% and that it will close another 100-120 stores. See more coverage here and here.

Computer Sciences Corp. (NYSE: CSC) is down more than -9% at $24.06. The technology and IT services company has said it may have to take a $1.5 billion writedown on a UK contract. More coverage here.

Parlux Fragrances Inc. (NASDAQ: PARL) is up more than 72% at $5.98, after posting a new 52-week high this morning of $6.60. The perfume maker is being acquired by Perfumania Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: PERF) for about $170 million.

Whirlpool Corp. (NYSE: WHR) is down more than -8% at $46.95. The appliance maker, which makes products for Sears, is caught in that company’s dismal announcement.

Magnum Hunter Resources Corp. (NYSE: MHR) is up nearly 19% at $5.54. The oil & gas producer has raised its production estimate from 10,000 barrels/day of oil equivalent to 12,500 barrels/day.

Stay tuned for Wednesday. Here are the noteworthy events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

7:00 a.m. – Mortgage Bankers Association purchase applications
11:30 a.m. – Four-week T-bill auction

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Paul Ausick