- Masood hits first ton for four years to power Pakistan to 233-1
- Fritz wins delayed match to reach Shanghai Masters third round
- Naomi Osaka pulls out of Japan Open with back injury
- Weather may delay launch of mission to study deflected asteroid
- China to flesh out economic stimulus plans after bumper rally
- Artist Marina Abramovic hopes first China show offers tech respite
- Asian markets track Wall St rally on US jobs data
- Pakistan 122-1 at lunch in first England Test
- Kazakhs approve plan for first nuclear power plant
- World marks anniversary of Oct. 7 attack on Israel
- 'Second family': tennis stars hunt winning formula with new coaches
- Philippines, South Korea agree to deepen maritime cooperation
- Mexico mayor murdered days after taking office
- Sardinia's sheep farmers battle bluetongue as climate warms
- Japan govt admits doctoring 'untidy' cabinet photo
- Israel marks first anniversary of Hamas's October 7 attack
- Darvish tames Ohtani as Padres thrash Dodgers
- Asian markets track Wall St rally on jobs data
- Family affair as LeBron, Bronny James make Lakers bow
- Cancer, cardiovascular drugs tipped for Nobel as prize week opens
- As Great Salt Lake dries, Utah Republicans pardon Trump climate skepticism
- Amazon activist warns of 'critical situation' ahead of UN forum
- Mourners pay tribute to latest victims of deadly Channel crossing
- Tunisia incumbent Saied set to win presidential vote: exit polls
- Phillies win thriller to level Mets series
- Yu bags first PGA Tour win with playoff win
- PSG held by Nice to leave Monaco clear at top of Ligue 1
- AC Milan fall at Fiorentina after De Gea's penalty heroics
- Lewandowski treble for leaders Barca as Atletico held
- Fresh Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Sucic stunner earns Real Sociedad draw against Atletico
- PSG draw with Nice, fail to reclaim top spot in Ligue 1
- Gudmundsson downs AC Milan after De Gea's penalty heroics for Fiorentina
- 'Yes' vote prevails in Kazakhstan nuclear plant vote: TV
- 'Difficult day': Oct 7 commemorations begin with festival memorial
- Commemorations begin for anniversary of attack on Israel
- Lewandowski hat-trick powers Liga leaders Barca to Alaves victory
- 'Nothing gets in way of team,' says Celtics' MVP hopeful Tatum
- India maintain Pakistan stranglehold as Windies cruise at Women's T20 World Cup
- 'We will win!': Mozambique's ruling party confident at final vote rally
- Tunisia voting ends as Saied eyes re-election with critics behind bars
- Florida braces for Milton, FEMA head slams 'dangerous' Helene misinformation
- Postecoglou slams 'unacceptable' Spurs after 'terrible' loss at Brighton
- Marmoush double denies Bayern outright Bundesliga top spot
- Rallies worldwide call for Gaza, Lebanon ceasefire
- Maresca hails Chelsea's 'fighting' spirit after draw with 10-man Forest
- New 'Joker' film, a dark musical, tops N.America box office
- Man Utd stalemate keeps Ten Hag in danger, Spurs rocked by Brighton
- Drowned by hurricane, remote N.Carolina towns now struggle for water
- Vikings hold off Jets in London to stay unbeaten
US tech titans stumble after pandemic boom
Amazon and Apple were a relative bright spot in a week of otherwise lackluster earnings results for an industry reckoning with the end of heady pandemic-era growth.
A crowded period of quarterly financial releases from the world's biggest tech firms has been marred by misses and uncertainty -- making it clear that the boom triggered by Covid-19 restrictions on getting about has tipped toward downturn.
As people are freed from pandemic lifestyles that had them relying on the internet for shopping, playing, working and learning, inflation is pushing up prices and Covid-19 is causing temporary shutdowns of factories in China relied on by tech firms.
Recession fears, a strong dollar, shrinking advertising budgets and inflation -- headwinds are coming from every direction at the moment.
"When you think about the number of challenges in the quarter, we feel really good about the growth that we put up," Apple chief executive Tim Cook said on an earnings call.
For Apple, product sales tallied $63.4 billion in a drop from the same period a year earlier, but the dip was more than made up for by services revenue that climbed to $19.6 billion, earnings figures showed.
Demand for iPads and Mac computers exceeded supply in the recently-ended quarter, the main cause being pandemic restrictions that caused "plant closures and plants running at less than full utilization," Cook noted.
Apple was also hobbled by an ongoing shortage of computer chips, Cook said.
Meanwhile, US chip giant Intel reported disappointing earnings battered by its own missteps as well as economic conditions -- a post-Covid drop in demand and "supply dislocations in China and other parts of the supply chain," executives said on an earnings call.
Amazon beat sales estimates to reach $121 billion in the quarter, and revenue climbed at its cloud-computing platform Amazon Web Services.
The retailer has made progress reducing ranks of employees that had been beefed up to handle online shopping that surged during the pandemic, executives said.
"Amazon managed pretty well through the second quarter despite tough macro conditions and added costs weighing on its bottom line," said analyst Andrew Lipsman.
Apple, Microsoft and Facebook-owner Meta have talked of the strong dollar eating into earnings, since when America's currency gains too much value, it can make products more expensive overseas or eat away at a beneficial exchange rate.
Meta pointed to the greenback's role in the firm's first year-on-year revenue decline since going public in 2012.
- Not much good news -
In addition to the generally bumpy economic times, firms such as Netflix and Meta are fighting fierce competition from rivals -- and both reported losing some ground.
Meta lost about two million monthly users between quarters, and Netflix shed nearly a million paying customers.
Yet Netflix stock is up about a percent in the past five days, with investors potentially hopeful after the firm projected a coming rebound in subscribers.
Markets seemed similarly assuaged despite Google parent Alphabet missing on revenue and profit.
The Silicon Valley giant's bad news was not unexpected, as the flow of online ad dollars that fuels the company's fortunes has slowed as inflation, war and other troubles vex the overall economy.
"Still, with its tremendous market share in search advertising, Google is relatively well positioned to weather the rough waters that lie ahead," said analyst Evelyn Mitchell.
As advertisers have tightened their belts, and Apple's privacy changes have bitten into firms' sales of costly but highly targeted ads, the damage was uneven.
Meta's income has taken a beating, and with a share price that has lost about half its value since February, it's clear that investors are still wary about the company's future.
"The good news, if we can call it that, is that its competitors in digital advertising are also experiencing a slowdown," said analyst Debra Aho Williamson.
Snapchat's parent firm, for example, reported that its loss in the recently ended quarter nearly tripled to $422 million, despite revenue increasing 13 percent under "more challenging" conditions than expected.
"We are not satisfied with the results we are delivering, regardless of the current headwinds," California-based Snap said in a letter to investors last week.
P.Santos--AMWN