Sun Microsystems Inc., maker of high-end servers as well as it's own flavors of Solaris and Linux, may be preparing to lay off as many as 8,000 of it's employees. While Sun declined to comment, Wall Street analysts speculate that the company will post losses of the value of it's stock. A layoff would give Sun the leeway to boost annual earnings of 14 to 18 cents a share.

The computer maker, based in Santa Clara, Calif., is expected to post a loss when it reports its first-quarter earnings tomorrow afternoon. CEO Scott McNealy said last week that he would consider layoffs if Sun failed to turn a profit again soon. The company has already shed 10 percent of its jobs since the height of the Internet boom, but analysts think more are needed to return Sun to profitability.

 

''Sun risks becoming the Apple of corporate computing, cool but less relevant,'' said Steven Mulnovich, a vice president of Merrill Lynch.