Profit Forecasts by Industry

Here are Wall Street analysts’ consensus expectations for first-quarter earnings in some key industries:

* The energy sector has been hit hard this quarter, with earnings expected to fall 24%, on average, from a year earlier, according to Chuck Hill, director of research at First Call, which tracks profit forecasts on Wall Street.

With oil prices hitting nine-year lows this week, earnings at big refiners and marketers such as Exxon Corp. and Mobil Corp. are expected to be down as much as 33% from a year ago.

But oil service companies and oil drillers are still expected to post higher results overall, Hill said.

* Earnings for a broad group of tech companies are expected to fall 6% from a year earlier, Hill said. Earlier this quarter, analysts had expected a 10% rise in earnings. But the software sector, which includes such names as Microsoft Corp. and Cadence Design, has shown strength. Software sector earnings are expected to be up 20%.

The semiconductor sector, by contrast, is expected to be hammered. Analysts now expect profits for the group to fall 29%, compared with previous forecasts for flat profits or sluggish growth of 1%. Chip giant Intel Corp. has already warned of weaker earnings because of slow sales.

* For financial services, led by international banks such as Citicorp, expectations have held steady at about 11% year-over-year earnings growth, on average.

* The industrial sector, which includes such names as Caterpillar Inc., is expected to post a 10% profit gain, down from the 20% gain forecast as of January.