- Injury-hit Australia thrash 'embarrassing' Pakistan at Women's T20 World Cup
- Internal TikTok documents show prioritization of traffic over well-being
- Israel says fired at 'immediate threat' near UN position in Lebanon
- New US coach Pochettino hails Pulisic but worries over workload
- Brazil orders closure of 2,000 betting sites
- UK govt urged to raise pro-democracy tycoon's case with China
- Sculptor Lalanne's animal creations sell for $59 mn
- From Tesla to Trump: Behind Musk's giant leap into politics
- US, European markets rise as investors weigh rates, earnings
- In Colombia, children trade plastic waste for school supplies
- Supercharged hurricanes trigger 'perfect storm' for disinformation
- JPMorgan Chase profits top estimates, bank sees 'resilient' US economy
- Djokovic proves staying power as he progresses to Shanghai semi-finals
- Sheffield Utd boss Wilder 'numb' after Baldock death
- Little progress at key meet ahead of COP29 climate summit
- Fans immerse themselves in Marina Abramovic's first China exhibition
- Israel says conducting review after UN peacekeepers wounded in Lebanon
- 'Party atmosphere': Skygazers treated to another aurora show
- Djokovic 'overwhelmed' after 'greatest rival' Nadal's retirement
- Zelensky in Berlin says hopes war with Russia will end next year
- Kyrgyzstan opens rare probe into glacier destruction
- European Mediterranean states discuss Middle East, migration
- Djokovic proves staying power as progresses to Shanghai semi-finals
- Hurricane Milton leaves at least 16 dead as Florida cleans up
- Britain face 'ultimate challenge' in America's Cup duel with New Zealand
- Lebanon calls for 'immediate' ceasefire in Israel-Hezbollah war
- Nihon Hidankyo: Japan's A-bomb survivors awarded Nobel
- Thunberg leads pro-Palestinian, climate protest in Milan
- Boat captain rescued clinging to cooler in Gulf of Mexico after storm Milton
- Tears, warnings after Japan atomic survivors group win Nobel
- 'Unspeakable horror': the attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
- Stock markets diverge before China weekend briefing
- Christian villagers 'trapped' in south Lebanon crossfire
- Sabalenka sets up Gauff showdown in Wuhan semis
- EU questions shopping app Temu over illegal products risk
- Kim Sei-young holds lead with late birdies at LPGA Shanghai
- Toulouse welcome Dupont 'boost' as Olympic star returns to Top 14
- Japanese atomic bomb survivor group Nihon Hidankyo wins Nobel Peace Prize
- Deadly Israeli strike on Beirut likely targeted Hezbollah security chief
- Bangladesh Islamist chief backs crimes against humanity trial for ex-PM
- Everest climber's remains believed found after 100 years
- 20 Pakistan coal miners shot dead in attack
- Clashes on South China Sea, Ukraine dominate Asia summit
- Han Kang's books sell out in South Korea after Nobel win
- Zelensky meets Pope, Scholz as whirlwind Europe tour ends
- Hello Hallyu: why is South Korean culture sweeping the globe?
- UK economy rebounds in August in boost to new govt
- Voice of Japan's beloved robot cat 'Doraemon' dies
- Shanghai markets sink ahead of briefing on mixed day for Asia
- Investors, analysts eye bigger China stimulus at Saturday briefing
Meta, Amazon beat expectations with stellar results
Meta and Amazon on Thursday blew through expectations in their latest quarterly results as Big Tech continued to impress Wall Street.
Meta, the tech titan behind Facebook and Instagram, reported a profit of $14 billion in the final three months of last year, beating analyst forecasts as revenue climbed to $40.1 billion in the quarter.
The company said Facebook's monthly users stood at 3.07 billion people, 20 years after the platform was founded by Mark Zuckerberg in a Harvard dorm.
"We had a good quarter as our community and business continue to grow," Meta CEO Zuckerberg said in an earnings release.
Meta shares jumped more than 14 percent to top $445 in after-market trade.
A year ago, after a catastrophic 2022 for Meta, Zuckerberg promised a "year of efficiency".
Between unprecedented layoffs, doubts about the company's embrace of virtual reality and feuds with regulators, that year had not been an easy one for the social networking giant.
Facebook changed its parent company name to Meta in late 2021, due to Zuckerberg's yet to be proven vision of virtual worlds referred to as the "metaverse" being the next major computing platform.
"The 'Year of Efficiency' has paid off, with both headcount and costs dropping, and Meta exceeding our expectations for full-year 2023 ad revenue," said analyst Jasmine Enberg of Insider Intelligence.
Amazon also impressed investors with sales up to a more-than-expected $170 billion in the last quarter of last year, after a record-beating holiday season.
It, too, embraced "efficiency" last year eliminating some 27,000 jobs in a move it said at the time was necessary, after years of sustained hiring.
Amazon's shares have risen by 50 percent in the past 12 months as investors applauded its aggressive cost-cutting and an increase in sales.
"This Q4 was a record-breaking holiday shopping season and closed out a robust 2023 for Amazon," CEO Andy Jassy said in a statement.
The company said more than one billion items were purchased worldwide during the company's Black Friday and Cyber Monday holiday shopping events.
Amazon said its employee count stood at 1.525 million at the end of 2023, down one percent from a year before.
- Cloud doubts -
Amazon's cloud business AWS, often described as the company's cash cow, grew 13 percent in the fourth quarter.
This was weaker than the blistering performance of cloud computing colossus Microsoft, which announced growth of about 30 percent in its Azure cloud business as customers signed up for AI services.
"The mild acceleration of growth from previous quarters leaves some lingering doubts about whether the cloud unit will be able to hold its own against rivals," said Insider Intelligence analyst Sky Canaves.
Amazon saw an impressive increase of 26 percent in its advertising business as it bolsters its position as a rival to ad behemoths Meta and Google.
Much like Meta, the company founded by Jeff Bezos is also expanding into AI and on Tuesday said it was testing a chatbot named Rufus that would provide shopping tips to US mobile app customers.
Like most tech titans, Meta and Amazon face increased regulatory scrutiny.
At a heated hearing in the US Congress on Wednesday, Zuckerberg was asked to give a public apology to the families of child victims of sexual exploitation on his platforms.
Meta is facing a major lawsuit brought by about 40 US states jointly suing Meta over alleged failures with children.
Amazon is being sued by the top US antitrust regulator that accuses the online retail giant of running an illegal monopoly by strong-arming independent sellers on its platform and stifling potential rivals.
It was also forced to abandon its buyout of iRobot vacuum maker after the EU's antitrust authority objected to the plan over competition concerns.
Y.Nakamura--AMWN