Alphabet eyes $2 trillion value after blowout results

Google parent company Alphabet Inc advanced nearer to joining peers Apple Inc and Microsoft Corp in the elite $2 trillion market valuation club on Wednesday as the search giant's shares surged more than 8 percent following a blowout quarterly report.

Last trading at about $2,975, Alphabet's stock was on track for its largest one-day percentage gain in almost two years, easing concerns around owning Big Tech following a sector-wide selloff in the past few weeks.

Alphabet's stock market value peaked just above $2 trillion after the start of the trading session, and was last at $1.97 trillion. That includes class B shares that do not trade on the stock market and are held by insiders.

A close above $2 trillion would be the first ever for the Mountain View, California-based company.

"The technology sector started 2022 with some of the biggest question marks over it since the dotcom crash more than two decades ago," said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell. "However, the largest and highest quality US tech names continue to deliver the answers the market wants with big earnings beats."

Shares of Wall Street's most valuable companies have soared in the past two years, driven by pandemic-led shifts in how people work and learn, even as regulators around the world scrutinize them over allegations of breaches of privacy and antitrust concerns.

At least 20 brokerages raised their price targets on Alphabet's stock after the company late on Tuesday delivered record quarterly sales that topped expectations. The median analyst price target is now $3,450, 16 percent above its current price.

Alphabet also announced a 20-to-1 stock split, which will give shareholders 19 shares for every share they hold.

Splitting stocks is a method companies use to woo investors by making them more affordable. However, some brokerages, such as Robinhood Markets, allow investors to buy fractions of shares, making the tactic less effective.

Tesla Inc and Apple split their stocks in 2000 to make their shares more appealing to mom-and-pop investors.

"The split will make the shares more accessible for retail investors and likely facilitate inclusion in the Dow Jones Industrial Average (which is somehow still share price-weighted), but it has no fundamental impact," J.P. Morgan analyst Doug Anmuth said.

Facebook parent Meta Platforms, which is set to report results on Wednesday after the bell, was last up 1.1 percent.

Adding to the rebound in tech stocks, Advanced Micro Devices Inc's shares jumped over 5 percent after its results topped Wall Street expectations. Rivals Nvidia Corp, Qualcomm Inc and Micron Technology Inc also rose.

-reuters-

Accenture revenue forecast tops estimates on cloud, security services demand

IT consulting firm Accenture Plc forecast better-than-expected second-quarter revenue on Thursday, as more clients seek its cloud and security services, sending its shares up more than 10 percent in premarket trade.

Client spending, which rebounded last fiscal year to pre-pandemic levels due to a shift to hybrid working models, has stayed strong with Accenture reporting robust bookings of $16.8 billion in the reported quarter, up 30 percent from a year earlier.

"This is the direct result of having executed for years a strategy to rotate our business to digital, cloud and security," Accenture Chief Executive Officer Julie Sweet said.

Analysts expect investments in these segments by the company, which hired 50,000 people during the quarter, to generate long-term benefits and help it compete better with peers Cognizant and Infosys for market share in a booming sector.

This strong industry-wide growth will likely be sustainable, as the pandemic helped create a multi-year IT spending cycle, Wedbush Securities analyst Moshe Katri said.

Shares of the Dublin, Ireland-based company have outperformed the S&P 500 Index this year, thanks to increased spending on digitization and cloud adoption.

Accenture now expects full-year revenue to grow between 19 percent and 22 percent from 12 percent to 15 percent forecast earlier.

Revenue for the quarter ended Nov. 30 jumped 27 percent to $14.97 billion, compared with analysts' average estimate of $14.19 billion, according to Refinitiv IBES data.

Accenture said it expects current-quarter revenue between $14.30 billion and $14.75 billion, compared with analysts' average estimate of $14.09 billion.

The company earned $2.78 per share during the first quarter. Analysts had expected a profit of $2.63 per share.

-reuters-

Nike shares surge as return of pro sports boosts outlook

NEW YORK - Shares of Nike skyrocketed Thursday on blowout earnings propelled by gains in direct sales to consumers and positive momentum from the return of professional sports.

The sportswear giant scored record quarterly revenue earnings in North America and also benefited from a big jump in sales in Europe, Middle East and Africa compared to the same period last year, when COVID-19 restrictions were most severe.

Higher revenues also helped offset the effects of higher spending on marketing in connection with major sporting events such as this month's NBA playoffs and Euro 2020, where the company is a sponsor of Cristiano Ronaldo and of several teams still in contention.

"We're proud that more goals have been scored using Nike boots than all the others combined," said Chief Executive John Donahoe on an earnings conference call.

Nike's profits for the quarter ending May 31 was $1.5 billion, compared with a loss of $790 million a year ago.

Revenue nearly doubled to $12.3 billion.

Executives also outlined a plan for strong performance through fiscal 2025, projecting annual sales growth of high single digit to low double digit growth. 

The outlook reflects the benefit of investments in Nike's direct-to-consumer efforts, which have accelerated during the pandemic and as some traditional retailers have gone out of business.

The company forecasts fiscal 2022 sales of more than $50 billion, said Chief Financial Officer Matt Friend.

Shares jumped 12.1 percent to $149.71 in after-hours trading.

Agence France-Presse

Microsoft earnings rise as pandemic boosts cloud computing, Xbox sales

Microsoft Corp on Tuesday reported its Azure cloud computing services grew 50%, the second quarter of acceleration in a business that had begun to slow as the global pandemic benefited the software maker's investment on working and learning from home.

The company's shares rose 4% in extended trading after gaining about 41% in 2020 as COVID-19 shifted computing to areas where the software maker has bet big. It also saw a surprise recovery in sales on the LinkedIn professional social network and navigated a chip shortage that had threaten to hold back its Xbox business.

The shift to work from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated enterprises' switch to cloud-based computing, benefiting Microsoft and rivals such as Amazon.com Inc's cloud unit and Alphabet Inc's Google Cloud.

Microsoft said revenue in its "Intelligent Cloud" segment rose 23% to $14.6 billion, with 50% growth in Azure. Analysts had expected a 41.4% growth in Azure, according to consensus data from Visible Alpha. The previous quarter Azure grew 48%.

"This was really driven by continued customer demand, with stronger-than-expected consumption as customers have increased their focus on digital transformation," Microsoft Chief Financial Officer Amy Hood told Reuters in an interview.

Atlantic Equities analyst James Cordwell said that last year, "economic weakness and delays in implementation had masked the extent to which Azure was benefiting from the accelerated shift to the cloud caused by the pandemic. But with these results that benefit is now plain to see."

LinkedIn revenue growth, which dipped as the pandemic shut down businesses, reached 23%, near its pre-pandemic rate of 24% a year earlier. Hood said advertisements on LinkedIn drove the increase.

"We continue to see advertising market recovery," she said.

Microsoft bundles several sets of software and services such as Office and Azure into a "commercial cloud" metric that investors watch closely to gauge the company's progress in selling to large businesses.

Commercial cloud gross margins - a measure of the profitability of its sales to large businesses - were 71% in the quarter, compared with 67% a year earlier.

Revenue from its personal computing division, which includes Windows software and Xbox gaming consoles, rose 14% to $15.1 billion, driven by strong Xbox content and services growth, beating analysts' estimates of $13.5 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

Microsoft in November released two new Xbox consoles, its most visible non-work and non-school brand, but the hardware proved difficult to find as a global semiconductor shortage contributed to tight stocks as many retailers. Xbox hardware sales were up 86% despite the shortages, and Hood said growth is likely to continue, with older models also contributing to sales.

"Demand still outpaces supply, and we do expect that to continue," Hood said. "The team did a nice job of getting consoles, both of this newest generation as well as continuing to sell the older generation, which provides a great value for gamers."

The software giant's overall revenue rose to $43.08 billion in the second quarter ended Dec. 31, from $36.91 billion a year earlier, beating analysts' estimates of $40.18 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

-reuters-

HSBC profits hammered by pandemic, soaring US-China tensions

HONG KONG - HSBC on Monday said profits for the first half of 2020 plunged by 69 percent on year as the banking giant was hammered by the coronavirus pandemic and spiralling China-US tensions.

The lender reported post-tax profits of $3.1 billion while pre-tax profit was $4.3 billion, a 64 percent drop on the same period last year. Reported revenue was down nine percent at $26.7 billion.

Chief executive Noel Quinn described the first six months of the year as "some of the most challenging in living memory".

"Our first-half performance was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, falling interest rates, increased geopolitical risk and heightened levels of market volatility," he said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange, 

Even by the standards of the current economic maelstrom engulfing global banks, HSBC has had a torrid year. 

Before the coronavirus crisis it was beset by disappointing profit growth, ground down by US-China trade war uncertainties and Britain's departure from the European Union.

The Asia-focused lender embarked on a huge cost-cutting initiative at the start of the year, including plans to slash some 35,000 jobs as well as trimming fat from less profitable divisions, primarily in the United States and Europe.

The coronavirus upended some of that cost-cutting drive with banks hammered by market volatility and the economic slowdown caused by the pandemic.

But HSBC has a further headache -- geopolitical tensions via its status as a major business conduit between China and the West.

HSBC makes 90 percent of its profit in Asia, with China and Hong Kong being the major drivers of growth.

Caught in crossfire

As a result it has found itself more vulnerable than most to the crossfire caused by the increasingly bellicose relationship between Beijing and Washington.

The bank has tried to stay in Beijing's good graces. 

It vocally backed a draconian national security law that Beijing imposed on Hong Kong in June to end a year of unrest and pro-democracy protests.

The move sparked criticism in Washington and London but analysts saw it as an attempt to protect its access to China, which has a track record of punishing businesses that do not toe Beijing's line.

But that has not shielded it from Beijing's wrath. 

Last month the bank was a subject of multiple reports in China's state-run media claiming that it had helped to provide the evidence that led to the arrest in Canada of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou on a US arrest warrant.

HSBC released a statement on its Chinese Weibo accounts saying it had not "framed" telecom giant Huawei or "fabricated evidence" that led to the arrest of Meng.

China's internet censors blocked access to HSBC's statement within hours of publication, without offering an explanation.

Quinn referenced the bank's growing political vulnerability in Monday's statement.

"Current tensions between China and the US inevitably create challenging situations for an organization with HSBC's footprint," he said.

"However, the need for a bank capable of bridging the economies of East and West is acute, and we are well placed to fulfil this role," he added.

The bank's Asia operations continued to show "good resilience", Quinn said, with profit before tax of $7.4 billion.

Earlier this year Quinn put some of the job cuts on hold as the pandemic struck.

But in Monday's statement he vowed to press ahead with the cost-cutting.

"As we seek to accelerate our transformation in the second half of the year, I am mindful of the impact it will have for some of our people, particularly those leaving us," he said. 

Agence France-Presse

Nike earnings jump as strong pricing offsets tariff hit

NEW YORK -- Nike reported a jump in quarterly earnings on Thursday as strong pricing and increased direct sales helped offset a hit from US trade tariffs.

The sports apparel giant notched a 31.6 percent increase in fiscal second-quarter profits to $1.1 billion.

Revenues surged 10.2 percent to $10.3 billion behind double-digit increases in Greater China and other regions outside its home market. North American sales rose about five percent.

Gross profit margins rose due to higher pricing in the Converse brand and in direct sales to customers following heavy investment in smartphone applications and other technologies.

Those gains were offset somewhat by higher costs following US tariffs on Chinese imports on some footwear and apparel that took effect during the quarter.

President Donald Trump last week called off an additional round of tariffs on Chinese goods that had threatened additional Nike products.

Chief Financial Officer Andy Campion said the results reflected the success of "strategic and targeted investment in our digital transformation."

The sports giant announced in October that Mark Parker would step down as chief executive in January and be replaced by former eBay chief executive John Donahoe. Parker will stay on as executive chairman.

Shares of Nike slipped 0.6 percent in after-hours trading to $100.53.

Agence France-Presse

Burberry logs rising profit despite Hong Kong protests

LONDON - Luxury British fashion house Burberry on Thursday logged rising interim profits despite the impact of ongoing protests in Hong Kong.

Profits after taxation rose 14 percent to £150.3 million ($193 million, 175 million euros) in the first half of Burberry's financial year, or 26 weeks to September 28, it said in a results statement. 

Burberry, famed for its designer handbags and trademark check pattern, added however that sales in Hong Kong suffered a "double digit" percentage decline due to the protests.

The fashion house also took a £14-million impairment on the value of its stores in Hong Kong.

However, total group sales grew 5 percent to £1.28 billion, aided by new collections from chief creative officer Riccardo Tisci.

"We are pleased with our performance in the half, as we remain on track to deliver the first phase of our strategy," said Chief Executive Marco Gobbetti.

He added: "We also continued to strengthen momentum around our brand and transform our distribution.

"We delivered financial results in line with guidance despite the decline in Hong Kong and we confirm our outlook for 2020."

source: news.abs-cbn.com

WeWork hit with big loss despite revenue jump: reports

SAN FRANCISCO, United States - WeWork posted third-quarter losses of $1.25 billion despite the beleaguered office space start-up nearly doubling its revenue, US media reports said Wednesday.

The firm has suffered a dramatic reversal in fortunes since its $47 billion valuation at the start of the year.

In the last two months WeWork canceled its IPO and pushed out co-founder Adam Neumann, albeit with a reported severance package of more than $1.5 billion.

The record-high loss was more than double the red ink logged over the same period a year earlier while revenue soared to $934 million, according to the Wall Street Journal, which cited a report to debt holders by parent company We Co.

Japanese conglomerate SoftBank Group will pump a total of $9.5 billion into WeWork and increase its stake in the firm from 29 percent to around 80 percent in an agreement announced last month.

SoftBank Group last week announced an operating loss of $6.4 billion for the third quarter, the worst in its history, as it took a hit from investments in start-ups including WeWork and Uber.

WeWork offers flexible and shared workspace arrangements, with operations in 111 cities across 29 countries.

To cut costs, the firm stopped construction of new buildings and is selling off some business units, according to SoftBank chief executive Masayoshi Son.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Alphabet third-quarter profit misses estimates

Alphabet Inc fell short of analysts' estimates for third-quarter profit on Monday, hit by aggressive spending by its Google unit on marketing and hardware development.

The company reported a net income of $7.07 billion, or $10.12 per Class A and B common share and Class C capital share, in the 3 months ended Sept. 30, from $9.19 billion, or $13.06 per share, a year earlier.

Revenue jumped 20 percent to $40.5 billion.

Analysts on average had expected revenue of $40.33 billion and earnings of $12.44 per share, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Twitter tumbles as 'bugs' hit revenue growth

WASHINGTON — Twitter shares plunged Thursday after reporting that "bugs" impacted its ad-targeting ability, pulling down revenue growth in the past quarter.

Profit for the third quarter was $37 million, a sharp drop from last year when the online messaging platform was helped by a large tax benefit.

Revenue rose 9 percent from a year earlier to $824 million, well below analyst forecasts, impacted by what the company called "revenue product issues."

Shares in Twitter skidded nearly 21 percent on the disappointing results to close at $30.75.

Twitter said revenue was hit by "bugs" on the platform which made it harder to deliver targeted advertising to mobile users.

"Unfortunately we had some missteps and bugs," chief executive Jack Dorsey told a conference call.

"These are issues we identified quickly and are working quick to fix."

Twitter said this glitch pulled down advertising growth, which makes up the bulk of revenues, by around three percentage points.

"In Q3, we discovered, and took steps to remediate, bugs that primarily affected our legacy Mobile Application Promotion product, impacting our ability to target ads and share data with measurement and ad partners," Twitter's investor relations team tweeted.

Chief financial officer Ned Segal said Twitter is working on a fix but that the glitch is expected to have a negative impact in the fourth quarter.

The bugs mainly affected Twitter operations outside the United States, where ad revenue was up just five percent compared with 11 percent for the US.

Overall, advertising revenue totaled $702 million, up 8 percent from last year.

CHALLENGES AHEAD

The results highlight challenges for Twitter, which has struggled to keep pace with rival social platforms as it seeks to remove fake accounts, abusive content and manipulation efforts.

Michael Levine of Pivotal Research Group said he remained upbeat on Twitter but for now the stock is "in the penalty box."

Levine said in a research note he is "inclined to think the issues are transitory but think the bias in the short term is to the downside and this very much just became a 'show me' story."

Mark Vickery at Zacks Investment Research said the results could be worrisome for Twitter looking ahead.

"It will be up to investors to gauge whether these issues are a temporary glitch on Twitter's road toward higher levels or whether they will provide a longer term albatross around the company's neck," Vickery said in a research note.

Goldman Sachs analysts meanwhile downgraded Twitter, citing "uncertainty around Twitter's ability to drive broader advertiser demand," among other factors.

Twitter boosted the number of "monetizable" daily active users, the new standard used by the platform, by 6 million from the past quarter to 145 million.

Twitter has stopped reporting "monthly active users," which was 330 million earlier this year, in favor of the new measure of daily users on the mobile app or website who see ads in their feeds.

While Twitter has a strong following among journalists, politicians and celebrities, it has struggled to build a broader user base in the manner of rival social platforms such as Facebook.

Dorsey said the growth in users represents a "steady refinement of Twitter" as it works to improve the platform and weed out inappropriate content.

"This is an incredibly strong foundation to build upon," he said.

Dorsey said Twitter has improved its automated systems to remove unwanted content, and now takes down more than 50 percent "proactively" and "without a bystander or first person report."

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Speedy delivery hits Amazon's bottom line; shares slump

SAN FRANCISCO — Amazon on Thursday reported that quarterly profits shy of Wall Street forecasts, sending shares of the tech giant tumbling in after-market trades.

Net income slid 27 percent from last year to $2.1 billion, with profits pressured by Amazon's spending to speed up most deliveries to one day.

Revenue climbed 24 percent to $70 billion in the quarter to September 30, compared to the $56.6 billion in sales logged in the same period a year earlier, according to the Seattle-based company.

Amazon shares were down nearly 7 percent in after-market trades that followed release of the earnings figures.

Cost of sales at Amazon leaped about 33 percent, eating into net income, according to the earnings report.

Amazon has been pushing to deliver packages more quickly, promising a wide selection of items to arrive within a day of being ordered by members of its Prime subscription service.

"We are ramping up to make our 25th holiday season the best ever for Prime customers -- with millions of products available for free one-day delivery,” said Amazon chief executive Jeff Bezos in the earnings release.

"Customers love the transition of Prime from 2 days to one day -- they've already ordered billions of items with free one-day delivery this year. It's a big investment, and it's the right long-term decision for customers."

Amazon has also positioned itself for the year-end holiday shopping season with a freshened lineup of Alexa-powered products on extending from homes and cars to wearable devices, and a celebrity voice option for the popular digital assistant.

Amazon, one of the world's most valuable companies, has expanded from its origins in e-commerce to cloud services, streaming media, artificial intelligence and brick-and-mortar grocery stores, with its own lineup of consumer electronics.

'MIXED BAG'

Analyst Andrew Lipsman at the research firm eMarketer called the quarterly results "a very mixed bag for Amazon with a couple shining bright spots but also some clouds looming in the cloud business."

Lipsman said the cloud computing unit AWS is seeing "softening in growth rates" which he said "will weigh on the company's profits if they can’t reverse the trend."

The analyst said Amazon's advertising and e-commerce operations "look very strong as investments in next-day shipping, though eating into the bottom line in the near term, are paying fast dividends on the top line."

Amazon's "strategically necessary" investments in next-day delivery weighed heavily on profitability, more than offsetting an $8 billion increase in sales in North America, according to Moody's analyst Charlie O'Shea.

Amazon continues to have formidable cash reserves, and generates more than $2 billion quarterly in operating income from its AWS cloud services unit providing "significant runway to continue with its myriad, necessary investments," O'Shea said.

AWS accounted for nearly $9 billion in revenue, with growth in the cloud-computing unit of 35 percent from a year ago.

In a product launch last month in Seattle, Washington, Alexa was the star as Amazon sought to widen the reach of its digital assistant powered by artificial intelligence amid a battle with rivals from Google, Apple, Microsoft and others.

Along with beefing up the Echo and Ring lines, Amazon introduced earbuds it touted as providing the first wearable, hands-free Alexa experience on the go.

The Amazon voice assistant was also infused prototype eyeglass frames on display at the media event along with an enhanced array of Echo smart speakers.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Cloud computing gains drive up profit for Microsoft

SAN FRANCISCO — Microsoft reported Wednesday that quarterly profits rose on the back of its thriving cloud computing business which has become a core focus for the US technology giant.

Profits rose 21 percent to $10.7 billion in the recently ended quarter as revenue increased 14 percent to $33.1 billion compared with the same period a year earlier.

"The world's leading companies are choosing our cloud to build their digital capability," said Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella.

Revenue from cloud services sold to businesses was up more than a third in the quarter to $11.6 billion, according to chief financial officer Amy Hood.

"Microsoft did for (the quarterly) earnings what it has done so many times before, and that is to crush it with cloud and SaaS growth," said analyst Patrick Moorhead of Moor Insights and Strategy, using an acronym for software-as-a-service.

"I attribute this quite simply to the investments it has made in the cloud and its ability to uniquely serve the needs of multinational corporations."

Meanwhile, revenue from its career-centric social network LinkedIn was up 25 percent, Microsoft reported.

Microsoft shares were up essentially flat in after-market trades that followed release of the earnings figures.

Nadella has moved Microsoft to focus on cloud computing and other business services, helping the company's valuation grow to $1 trillion and draw even with rival Apple in terms of market value.

While the quarterly earnings, overall, beat market expectations, there was a sign that revenue growth in Microsoft's cloud unit Azure might be slowing.

Microsoft reported that it saw no growth at Xbox gaming unit.

A reason is likely that the latest generation Xbox console that debuted nearly 6 years ago is poised to be replaced by a successor on the horizon.

Microsoft in June gave the world a first glimpse of a powerful next-generation Xbox that it aims to release late next year.

Xbox head Phil Spencer pulled back the curtain on "Project Scarlett," a successor to the Xbox One that will give game makers "the power they need to bring their creative visions to life."

The new Xbox was promised to be released in time for the Christmas holiday shopping season in 2020.

Xbox battles in the console gaming arena with Sony, which is working on a new generation PlayStation.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Scarlett Johansson tops Forbes best-paid actress list for 2nd year

LOS ANGELES, United States—Superhero Black Widow is a woman at the top of her game, and so is the actress who plays her—Scarlett Johansson is the world's highest paid actress for the second year in a row, according to Forbes' annual ranking published Friday.

Johansson, 34, earned $15.5 million more than she did in 2018, primarily due to the immense global success of "Avengers: Endgame"—the final chapter of the saga—for which she earned $35 million.

The actress will take up the Black Widow mantle again in 2020 for an eponymous spin-off film.

But even though Johansson and her cohorts on the list all earned more than $20 million, pay inequality is alive and well in Hollywood. Johansson earned $56 million total over the past year, but that amount lands her at only eighth place for the combined list of highest-paid actors and actresses.

For comparison, Robert Downey Jr., Johansson's "Avengers" costar, earned about $55 million for his turn as Iron Man in "Endgame."

According to the Forbes ranking of highest-paid actors in the world, published Wednesday, Downey Jr. comes in at third place with $66 million total, behind fellow Avenger Chris Hemsworth ($76.4 million) and Dwayne Johnson ($89.4 million).

For the women, second place goes to Sofia Vergara, an industry veteran but a newcomer to the list. The "Modern Family" sitcom star earned $44.1 million between June 1, 2018 and June 1, 2019.

She is followed by Reese Witherspoon ($35 million) and Nicole Kidman ($34 million), costars on the series "Big Little Lies."

Jennifer Aniston, who came in third in 2018 mainly due to advertising campaigns for major brands, has been relegated to fifth place with a mere $28 million for the year. The former "Friends" star—a show which also featured a guest appearance from Witherspoon—stars in a new series for Apple's on-demand web television service.

Other new list arrivals include Elisabeth Moss, boosted by the series "The Handmaid's Tale," and Australian actress Margot Robbie.

Angelina Jolie, who was number 2 on the list in 2018, did not make the cut this year, along with Julia Roberts, Cate Blanchett and Jennifer Lawrence.

The top 10:

1. Scarlett Johansson ($56 million)

2. Sofia Vergara ($44.1 million)

3. Reese Witherspoon ($35 million)

4. Nicole Kidman ($34 million)

5. Jennifer Aniston ($28 million)

6. Kaley Cuoco ($25 million)

7. Elisabeth Moss ($24 million)

8. Margot Robbie ($23.5 million)

9. Charlize Theron ($23 million)

10.Ellen Pompeo ($22 million)

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Walmart lifts profit forecast on strong US sales, limited tariff hit

NEW YORK - Walmart lifted its full-year profit forecast Thursday after better-than-expected results on solid US consumer spending, reflecting confidence that trade frictions will not significantly dent earnings.

Amid rising fears of a US recession, the world's biggest retailer said the American consumer as in "relatively good shape," as it posted another quarter of growth in US comparable sales, a closely-watched benchmark, jolting shares higher.

Walmart said full-year earnings per share will range from a slight decrease to a slight increase over last year, an improvement on the original outlook that called for a decline.

"Customers are responding to the improvements we're making, the productivity loop is working, and we're gaining market share," said Chief Executive Doug McMillon.

Net income was $3.6 billion, up from an $861 million loss in the year-ago period, when one-time costs related to its Brazil business dented results.

Revenues rose 1.8 percent to $130.4 billion.

The results caught President Donald Trump's eye, and he tweeted that the retail chain is a "great indicator to how the US is doing."

Walmart officials reiterated their firm support for free trade, after warning in June that proposed tariffs on a broad swathe of consumer goods imported from China are "likely to hit low-income American families the hardest."

BATTLING AMAZON

Walmart has been dueling with Amazon over faster home-delivery programs and in June unveiled a new venture to stock goods in customers' refrigerators in three American cities.

McMillon said Walmart had boosted its competitive position in several categories, including food, health and wellness and toys, attributing the gains to heavy investments in e-commerce and smartphone applications that have strengthened ties to American households.

Analysts view the investments as necessary, but they have hit the company's profit margins in the near term.

The retail giant has avoided specifics on how it is responding to tariffs on individual items.

The company's projections incorporate the latest US tariff plans, including Tuesday's announcement that Trump is delaying imposition of new duties on more than half the products targeted for the next round, to avoid hitting consumers during the holiday shopping season.

That reprieve spared Chinese-made cellphones and many toys, but still hit many consumer categories including apparel and televisions.

The fourth round of tariffs, set to begin September 1, "affects a larger part of our assortment than the prior tariffs," Chief Financial Officer Brett Biggs said in a statement.

He added that the retailer "has been able to thoughtfully manage pricing and margins with both our customers and shareholders in mind."

MITIGATING TARIFF HIT

Biggs said the company works with suppliers and tweaks its products in response to tariffs.

"You look at other places to source -- some of that can be done, some of it can't," Biggs told reporters on a conference call.

Analyst Neil Saunders of GlobalData Retail said the results show "Walmart will be a retail winner, even if external factors start to deteriorate."

But Saunders cautioned that the retail giant still needs to boost the profitability of its e-commerce business, adding that results should improve as customers become more familiar with the offerings and boost their purchases.

Gun control advocates have called on the chain to end firearms sales after a gunman who posted an anti-Hispanic manifesto killed 22 people in an attack at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas.

McMillon defended the company's decision to keep selling some guns as a "common sense" approach, noting that the chain had halted sales of military-style weapons in 2015 and raised the age limit to purchase a firearm to 21 in 2018 after an attack on a Florida school.

Walmart's share price jumped rose 6.1 percent to $112.69.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Disney sees box office gains, but earnings fall short

LOS ANGELES - Walt Disney Co. said Tuesday second-quarter results were lifted by strong box office gains but failed to meet Wall Street forecasts, sending shares sharply lower.

Disney shares tumbled some 5 percent in after-hours trade after reporting profits fell 51 percent to $1.4 billion while revenues rose 33 percent to $20.2 billion.

The results included the recently acquired film and television assets from 21st Century Fox, which gives Disney a dominant share of the Hollywood box office as it looks to boost its share in on-demand television to compete with Netflix and Amazon.

"Our third-quarter results reflect our efforts to effectively integrate the 21st Century Fox assets to enhance and advance our strategic transformation," said Disney chief executive Bob Iger.

"I'd like to congratulate The Walt Disney Studios for reaching $8 billion at the global box office so far this year -- a new industry record -- thanks to the stellar performance of our Marvel, Pixar and Disney films."

The latest results were highlighted by box-office hits such as "Avengers: Endgame," "Aladdin," "Captain Marvel" and "Toy Story 4."

The latest "Avengers" film smashed records this year to become the all-time top grossing film with more than $2.8 billion by July.

Disney also included results from Hulu, the online streaming service in which it acquired a controlling stake with the Fox deal.

Disney, which also operates theme parks and the ABC and ESPN television networks, is focusing on streaming as it gears up for the launch of its Disney+ service.

Its "direct to consumer" revenues rose in the past quarter from $827 million to $3.8 billion, but its operating loss more than tripled to $553 million due to its investments and consolidation of streaming operations.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Google/Alphabet sees fresh growth amid antitrust woes

SAN FRANCISCO - Google parent Alphabet's stock price leaped Thursday after reporting stronger-than-expected results in a quarterly update coming amid growing scrutiny of technology firms by antitrust regulators.

The internet giant said profits tripled in the second quarter from a year earlier to $9.9 billion while revenues increased 19 percent to $38.9 billion.

Shares in Alphabet rallied some 9 percent in after-hours trade on the report, which appeared to ease fears about slowing growth.

Also helping shares was an announcement that the company would spend an additional $25 billion on stock buybacks.

Profits were sharply higher than the same period last year when Google was forced to pay a $5 billion fine to settle antitrust actions in the European Union.

The strong results come with Google expected to face tough scrutiny in the United States where antitrust regulators have begun a review on online platforms over competition concerns.

Google chief executive Sundar Pichai told analysts that "we understand there will be scrutiny" and that "we will engage constructively."

He added: "It's not new to us. We have participated in these processes before. And to the extent there are concerns we'll address them as well."

Google has denied abusing its position and an executive told lawmakers at an antitrust hearing this month that the company has "helped reduce prices and expand choice for consumers and merchants in the US and around the world."

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Google accounted for the lion's share of revenue and profits for the company with "other bets" -- including Alphabet's autonomous driving division Waymo and its life sciences and cybersecurity units -- bringing in a modest $162 million in revenue and posting an operating loss of $989 million.

Alphabet chief financial officer Ruth Porat said the results showed "we're delivering strong growth."

Google's digital ad revenues rose 16 percent from a year ago and accounted for $32 billion of the company's revenues.

Google is the dominant player in internet search and as a result holds an estimated 31 percent share of digital advertising, according to the research firm eMarketer.

Its power has attracted scrutiny from antitrust regulators in Europe and more recently in the United States, where some lawmakers and candidates have called for a breakup of major tech firms.

Google has been seeking to diversify its revenue base with more hardware offerings including smartphones and digital assistants and a new streaming game service called Stadia.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Amazon pays a price for one-day delivery as profit growth slows

WASHINGTON - Amazon appeared to pay a hefty price for its move to speedy shipping, as the online giant reported profits below expectations as it ramped up for one-day deliveries.

Profits edged up just 3.6 percent to $2.6 billion in the past quarter, a figure below most Wall Street forecasts.

Revenues rose 20 percent to $63.4 billion in the April-June period for the company, a dominant force in retail with its Prime subscription service which is moving from two-day to one-day delivery on most items.

"Customers are responding to Prime's move to one-day delivery -- we've received a lot of positive feedback and seen accelerating sales growth," said chief executive Jeff Bezos in a statement.

"Free one-day delivery is now available to Prime members on more than ten million items, and we're just getting started."

But analysts said the costs of ramping up infrastructure were eroding profits.

BOTTOM-LINE WOES

"The additional shipping expenses have taken their toll on the bottom line," said Neil Saunders of the research firm GlobalData Retail, who added that Amazon is being forced to make these investments due to tougher competition from rival retailers like Walmart and Target.

"Traditional retailers like Walmart and Target are ramping up their e-commerce efforts and have the advantage of being able to offer collection from stores for shoppers wanting to obtain products quickly," Saunders said.

"By and large, Amazon has no such benefit, so it had to neutralize it by offering faster shipping for free."

Moody's Amazon Analyst Charlie O'Shea said Amazon profits were hit by "margin compression in North America due to the investments in next-day Prime delivery."

O'Shea said the shift to one-day delivery for many Prime items "is an example of short-term pain for long-term gain, and is a necessary strategy to compete with brick-and-mortar's speed advantage to the customer."

On a conference call, Amazon chief financial officer Brian Olsavsky said investments to speed up shipping have hit profits but that this would pay off in the long run.

"It does create a shock to the system, we're working through that now, and we expect we will be working to that for a number of quarters," he said.

"But when the dust settles, we will regain our cost efficiency over time."

Amazon Web Services, the cloud computing division which is a key profit driver for the company, saw revenue gains of 37 percent in the quarter.

O'Shea said AWS "continues to chug along and provide a significant buffer to the retail operations."

Amazon -- which has expanded from its origins in e-commerce to cloud services, streaming media, artificial intelligence and brick-and-mortar grocery stores -- saw shares slip 0.5 percent in after-hours trade on the results, which showed profits below forecasts but better-than-expected revenues.

The latest results did not include sales from Amazon's big Prime Day two-day sales event, said to have been a record.

Amazon has been delivering consistently robust profits in recent quarters after years of thin margins, as the company has grown into one of the world's most valuable, making Bezos the world's richest person.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

FedEx offers cautious 2020 outlook as CEO slams US, China on trade

NEW YORK -- FedEx warned Tuesday that its fiscal 2020 earnings outlook remains clouded by trade war uncertainty as the company's chief executive criticized the Trump administration's lurch towards protectionism.

Overall the company is projecting 2020 diluted earnings-per-share to be down by a "mid-single-digit" percentage point compared with the 2019 level.

FedEx expects higher operating income in fiscal 2020 from its domestic package and freight shipping services as growing e-commerce activity fuels higher revenues.

But operating income is expected to be dented at FedEx Express, its international shipping division, in part because of trade uncertainty. 

"We've been very disappointed over the last few years with the assumptions that we made on the growth of international trade, particularly with the Trump administration," Chief Executive Fred Smith said on a conference call with financial analysts.

"The United States policy since 1934... was to expand international trade and now we have a huge dispute with China where the US has basically become protectionist, defined as 'I'll make everything I need in my own borders.'"

Smith, long an outspoken advocate of free trade, also took issue with China's policy on trade, which he described as "mercantilist."

US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping are expected to meet at the G20 gathering in Japan later this week, an occasion that investors are hoping will bring the two countries closer to agreement after months of tariffs, countermeasures and threats.

Smith said the company remained committed to operating in China and "completely dedicated" to complying with Chinese laws. 

He said the company has experienced more audits "to some degree" at its Guangzhou hub in the wake of the US-China dispute.

FedEx again apologized over delivery problems involving Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei following a US crackdown on the company that Trump has linked to the US-China trade war.

Smith said the company's newly-filed lawsuit against the Commerce Department over export restrictions was not directly related to the Huawei case but was due to a broader set of government actions that are "opaque" and put too much onus on delivery companies.

On Monday, FedEx sued the US Commerce Department over export restrictions it said impose an "impossible burden" on delivery firms and asked a US District Court to block enforcement of the measures.

FedEx says the US rules makes shippers liable for packages that could violate the restrictions, even if the shipper has no prior knowledge of the problem.

FedEx reported a net loss of $2 billion for the quarter ending May 31, compared with $1.1 billion in profits in the year-ago period. 

The company cited lower international revenues and $316 million in costs associated with a voluntary employee buyouts as factors in the loss.

Revenues rose three percent overall to $17.8 billion.

Shares rose 0.7 percent to $157.05 in after-hours trading.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Apple rallies as new services offset slump in iPhone sales

SAN FRANCISCO -- Apple said Tuesday that profits in the past quarter dropped amid falling iPhone sales, but the results were above Wall Street expectations and sent shares sharply higher.

The California tech giant reported a 16 percent drop in profits in the just-ended quarter to $11.6 billion, as overall revenues dipped 5 percent to $58 billion.

Apple shares rallied more than 5 percent in after-hours trade, with the results showing better-than-anticipated results from its new products and services in the fiscal second quarter to March 30.

"Our March quarter results show the continued strength of our installed base of over 1.4 billion active devices, as we set an all-time record for services, and the strong momentum of our wearables, home and accessories category, which set a new March quarter record," said chief executive Tim Cook.

"We delivered our strongest iPad growth in six years, and we are as excited as ever about our pipeline of innovative hardware, software and services."

Apple has been scrambling to develop new revenue streams amid stagnant growth and increased competition in the smartphone market, which has been the company's main profit driver.

The latest quarterly results showed revenue from iPhone sales slumped 17 percent to $31 billion. Apple has stopped reported iPhone unit sales.

But services revenue grew 16 percent to $11 billion, reflecting growth in music, Apple Pay and other new offerings from the firm.

Apple also saw growth in its wearables -- which include its Apple Watch and earbuds -- and its smart HomePod speaker.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Privacy fine set-aside dents Facebook's profit

SAN FRANCISCO -- Facebook said Wednesday its profit took a hit from setting aside billions of dollars for an anticipated fine from US regulators, in a quarterly report that sent shares higher.

The leading social network logged a profit of $2.4 billion -- down 51 percent from a year earlier -- on revenue that climbed 26 percent to $15.1 billion in the first 3 months of this year.

The number of monthly active users of Facebook at the end of March was 2.38 billion, up eight percent from a year ago.

Facebook estimated that it will be hit with a fine of $3 billion to $5 billion by the US Federal Trade Commission for "user data practices," and factored that into its earnings report.

"The matter remains unresolved, and there can be no assurance as to the timing or the terms of any final outcome," the California-based company said in the release.

Facebook shares rallied more than 7 percent in after-hours trade following the results.

Profits would have topped Wall Street forecasts if not for the money put aside for the expected FTC fine.

"We had a good quarter and our business and community continue to grow," Facebook chief executive and co-founder Mark Zuckerberg said in a statement.

"We are focused on building out our privacy-focused vision for the future of social networking, and working collaboratively to address important issues around the internet."

The FTC announced last year it was reopening its investigation into Facebook for potential violations of a 2011 settlement over privacy practices.

'SOLID' RESULTS 

Over the past year, the social network has come under fire following revelations on the hijacking of personal data of tens of millions of users by Cambridge Analytica, a consultancy working for Donald Trump's 2016 campaign.

A series of other revelations showed Facebook may have also shared more private data with business partners and advertisers than it had reported, and may have exposed some personal information that should have been secured.

At the same time, Facebook has been hiring thousands of additional employees to deal with issues such as hate speech, incitement to violence and manipulation aimed at voters.

Facebook said its employee count was 37,773 as of March 31, an increase of 36 percent over the past year.

Despite the controversies, some 2.7 billion people use at least one of the "family" of the company's applications including the core Facebook network, Instagram, and messaging applications WhatsApp and Messenger.

The latest results showed "solid performance in revenue and user growth," said analyst Debra Aho Williamson of the research firm eMarketer.

Williamson said advertisers are staying with Facebook despite controversies that have plagued the social networking giant.

"While marketers may say privately that they do worry about Facebook's problems with fake news, election meddling, privacy and more, they worry more about their own financial health, and Facebook is still a major partner in that regard," Williamson said.

She advised advertisers to view the FTC fine revelation as a significant development that could bring about changes effecting the way they can use the social network for marketing.

source: news.abs-cbn.com