Google and Facebook jumped last season, while Netflix and Twitter disappointed,
Amazon, Facebook and Google’s growth soar high above the competition
Tech earnings season was a mixed bag with Netflix and Twitter reporting sluggish growth, while Amazon, Facebook and Google put a smile on investors’ faces with blockbuster profits. Facebook soars Facebook crushed second-quarter estimates with income nearly trebling and ad revenue exceeding $6.24 billion (U.S.) versus the $5.8 billion consensus forecast. Mobile ad sales, up 81per cent year-overyear, came in at $5.42 billion to top the $4.84 billion expected. Monthly active users reached 1.71 billion, well ahead of the Street’s 1.69 billion estimate. The leading social media company’s mobile app and video push attracted new advertisers and greater spending. Amazon conquers the cloud Profit for online U.S. retailer Amazon in the June quarter easily beat estimates, while sales topped $30 billion on continued demand for online shopping and cloud-based web services. The Amazon cloud unit posted a59-per-cent jump in year-over-year sales and now accounts for 41 per cent of unadjusted operating income from 36 per cent a year ago. Amazon recorded its fifth consecutive quarterly profit and its third straight record-setting profit. Mobile search lifts Google Google-parent Alphabet unveiled better-than-expected quarterly results thanks in part to mobile search and advertising. Revenue rose 21.3 per cent year over the year in the June second quarter and 6 per cent sequentially to $21.50 billion, powered by an ad shift to mobile and consumers’ appetite for video. “Our terrific second-quarter results reflect the successful investments we’ve made over many years in rapidly expanding areas,” said Ruth Porat, CFO of the California company. Apple surges on sales Shares of Apple surged as much as 7 per cent after the world’s largest publicly traded company reported more iPhone sales than expected for the third quarter ended in June. The Cupertino, Calif., giant said it sold 40.4 million iPhones in the period, down 15 per cent from a year ago but ahead of the analyst forecast for 40.02 million. iPhone sales dropped for the second straight quarter and Apple’s total revenue fell 14.6 per cent for the period ended June 25. Twitter stalls on slow growth Twitter slumped 9 per cent after the online short text blogging service reported its slowest quarterly revenue growth since 2013. Twitter reported “less overall advertising demand than expected” amid sputtering user additions. It said its “brand business remains strong in absolute terms, but there are some new challenges that we’re now tackling head-on” with stepped up investment in streaming video ad products. Galaxy gives Samsung an edge Continuing strong sales of flagship Galaxy and Edge smartphones helped Samsung Electronics post its biggest quarterly profit in two years. Revenue was 50.94 trillion won or $45.2 billion (U.S.), up 5 per cent annually, while operating profit was 8.14 trillion won ($7.22 billion), a gain of18 per cent. Samsung’s mobile division accounted for over half of the revenue and profit, and the com- pany said it expects to maintain solid sales through the third quarter with the launch of a new large-screen device. Analysts say the Korean company has defied slowing growth in the smartphone industry on demand for its high-end smartphone components including OLED displays.
Google-parent Alphabet unveiled better-than-expected quarterly results thanks in part to mobile search and advertising
Netflix stumbles on cancellations A surge of customer cancellations in the second quarter in advance of a price hike caused Netflix subscriber expansion to miss expectations by a wide margin, and sent shares 16 per cent lower in extended trading. Netflix said it added 1.7 million subscribers in the quarter — 160,000 in the U.S. and 1.52 million internationally — to lift the company’s total to 83.2 million. The growth, however, missed internal guidance for 500,000 new domestic subscribers and two million internationally. Net income for the April to June quarter of $41 million, or 9 cents per share, topped market forecasts for 2 cents while revenue of $1.97 billion trailed analyst expectations for $2.11 billion.