Earnings

Samsung reports jump in profit driven by strong demand for chipsSamsung Electronics Co. said Thursday its operating profit for last quarter rose by more than 26% as it capped off a robust business year where its dual strength in parts and finished products allowed it to thrive amid the pandemic.

Apple justifies its huge valuation, while Tesla ... not so much Wednesday's financial results demonstrated the difference in two of the most popular stocks in America: Apple Inc. and Tesla Inc., with the iPhone maker proving it is worthy of its whopping valuation, while the electric car maker, not so much.

ServiceNow Stock Rises After Earnings Top Estimates ServiceNow's solid growth could be seen as a good omen for other enterprise-focused cloud software providers.

Tesla stock falls after company reports first profit miss in more than a yearTesla Inc. reported a sixth-straight quarter of profit and a sales beat late Wednesday, but earnings came in below Wall Street expectations and the stock fell as much as 7% in after-hours trading.

ServiceNow subscription revenue up 32% on demand for business workflow needsServiceNow Inc. reported subscription and customer growth in the fourth quarter, saying it continued to help companies with their "digital transformations" as they navigate the COVID-19 pandemic.

Las Vegas Sands Swings to Loss Amid Plodding Recovery at Overseas Casinos Global casino operator Las Vegas Sands reported a fourth-quarter loss on a steep revenue decline as the pandemic took its toll on operations.

Apple tops $100 billion in revenue for the first time as iPhone, iPad sales surgeApple Inc. posted its highest quarterly revenue total yet as the new iPhone 12 powered the company to its first $100-billion quarter in sales.

Facebook’s Strong Results Are Offset by Cautious Comments About 2021 Facebook’s revenue rose 33% to $28.1 billion in the fourth-quarter, but the company said that a change to Apple’s iOS software could impact future results.

Facebook beats expectations but warns of 'cross currents' in 2021Facebook Inc. shares initially tumbled 5% in extended trading, then quickly rallied, Wednesday after it announced better-than-expected fourth-quarter results, but warned of "significant uncertainty as we manage through a number of cross currents in 2021."

Apple Earnings Crush Estimates as iPhone Scores Again Wall Street had been looking for a potentially spectacular quarter for iPhone sales following the recent launch of Apple's first 5G phones. The company delivered.

Levi Strauss stock falls after Q4 profit, sales beatLevi Strauss & Co. fell in the extended session Wednesday after the retailer reported fourth-quarter earnings and sales above Wall Street forecasts but said it continued to experience lower foot traffic at its stores and other problems related to the pandemic. Levi Strauss said it earned $57 million, or 14 cents a share, in the quarter, compared with $96 million, or 23 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Adjusted for one-time items, the company earned 20 cents a share, compared with 26 cents a share a year ago. Sales fell 12% to $1.39 billion, mostly thanks to reduced foot traffic and ongoing closures of company-operated and third-party stores in some markets, Levi Strauss said. Online sales rose 38%, partially offsetting the decline in brick-and-mortar store sales, the company said. Analysts polled by FactSet expected adjusted profit of 15 cents a share on sales of $1.34 billion. "We will double down on elevating our iconic brand, investing in direct engagement with our fans, advancing our fast-growing digital business and further diversifying our portfolio," Chief Executive Chip Bergh said in a statement. "As we continue to accelerate these strategic focus areas, we will emerge a stronger, more profitable, more agile company." The stock ended the regular trading day up 3%.

Levi’s Solid Quarter Is About More Than Digital Sales While the Covid-19 pandemic continues to weigh on Levi Strauss & Co., the denim maker still reported a better-than-expected fiscal fourth quarter.

Tesla Misses Estimates and Stock Falls in After-Hours Trading Tesla reported 80 cents in adjusted fourth-quarter per-share earnings. Wall Street wanted $1. But there are some positive tidbits for Tesla bulls.

Google should benefit big from bump in ads in 2021A projected bump in advertising factored into J.P. Morgan analyst Doug Anmuth's projection of sizable jumps in 2021 revenue growth for Google's search (19%) and YouTube (38%) businesses.

Apple tops $100 billion in revenue for the first time as iPhone, iPad sales surgeApple Inc. posted its highest quarterly revenue total yet as the new iPhone 12 powered the company to its first $100-billion quarter in sales.

Whirlpool stock falls after appliance maker's Q4 earningsWhirlpool Corp. stock fell more than 6% in the extended session Wednesday after the appliances maker reported fourth-quarter earnings that were above Wall Street expectations and 2021 guidance also above views. Whirlpool said it earned $497 million, or $7.77 a share, in the quarter, compared with $288 million, or $4.52 a share, in the year-ago quarter. Adjusted for one-time items, the company earned $6.64 a share. Sales rose to $5.8 billion, from $5.4 billion a year ago. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected adjusted earnings of $6.25 a share on sales of $5.6 billion. For the year, the company guided for GAAP EPS between $17.80 and $18.80 and free cash flow of $1 billion "or more." It estimated adjusted EPS for the year between $19 and $20. The analysts surveyed by FactSet expect 2020 GAAP EPS around $18.22 and an adjusted EPS of $19.18. Shares of Whirlpool ended the regular trading day 2.9% higher.

Insurance Broker’s Stock Is Halted as IPO Surges 1,150% A larger offering by the solar-power company Shoals Technologies Group—2021’s second-biggest so far—was up nearly 40% at one point.

U.S. stocks book worst daily losses since October as Powell stresses long road to recovery and short squeeze drama plays out Dow, S&P 500 both flipped negative for the year Wednesday, as stocks tumbled and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell underscored how far the economy is from a full recovery.

Lam Research expects strong momentum to continue as foundries build capacityLam Research Corp. late Wednesday topped Wall Street expectations on its quarterly results and forecast a stronger-than-expected outlook given capacity constraints at chip foundries.

Target partners with Levi Strauss for lifestyle collection, invests $200 million in employee bonusesHourly workers will get a $500 bonus

McDonald’s earnings: Improvements made during COVID-19 in 2020 will bolster 2021Franchisees are excited for the new chicken sandwich, but have some choice words for corporate management.

Stocks Close Down Sharply on Fed News, Disappointing Earnings Investors reacted to the central bank’s comments on slowing recovery plus big losses from Boeing and AT&T.

Kobe Bryant made over $300 million playing basketball --- here's how he invested his moneyOn the anniversary of his death, a look at Bryant the basketball --- and investing --- legend

Elon Musk once argued that Tesla should be a private company but Wall Street has proved him wrongMusk believed that shareholders' obsession with the short-term hurts a company's long-term performance.

Trading frenzy in AMC stock may stave off bankruptcy but cinema operator still faces years of recoveryThe trading frenzy that has propelled the shares of AMC Entertainment Corp. up more than 600% in the year to date may have saved the cinema operator from bankruptcy but the company is still facing formidable challenges after being hammered by the coronavirus pandemic.

Biden administration pauses Trump arms sales to Gulf states for further review The Biden administration has put a temporary hold on several major foreign arms sales initiated by the administration of then-President Donald Trump.

JPMorgan steps up pressure on Goldman Sachs with launch of new U.K. digital bankThe Wall Street lender will face stiff competition from U.K. startups like Monzo and Starling.

Apple overtakes Amazon to become world's most valuable brand, while Tesla is the fastest-growingApple has overtaken Amazon to become the world’s most valuable brand for the first time in five years, according to a global report.

Childhood poverty is three times more common than we thoughtOne-third of households with a child were net-worth poor in 2019, three times as many as were income poor.

It isn't just GameStop: Here are some of the other heavily shorted stocks shooting higherThe dynamic that has seemingly contributed to a short squeeze in the stock of videogame retailer GameStop Corp. also appears to be affecting shares in a host of other heavily shorted companies.

Even Reddit is beginning to discuss the endgame for the wild GameStop rideWhen are the meteoric gains for videogames retailer GameStop going to stop? Perhaps one sign is that there is a discussion of the subject on the Reddit message board that fueled the run.

The 'ice is cracking' on the bull market, one stock-market analyst warnsU.S. stocks have been hanging around record highs recently amid broader participation by individual investors, but now cracks are starting to form in the foundation of the bull market, according to technical analysts at SentimenTrader.

Investors Might Be Underestimating Under Armour Cowen’s Oliver Chen boosted his rating on Under Armour stock to Outperform from Market Perform, arguing that “consensus estimates are far too conservative” through fiscal 2023.

U.S. banks pledged billions to charity in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic --- what's behind their generosity'Bank donations can indeed be altruistically motivated, but our results indicate that these donations have a strategic component.'

How GameStop’s Surge Caused the Stock Market to Drop Investors have been able to ignore the wild trading in GameStop and other heavily shorted stocks—until now.

AT&T sees strong wireless growth but pandemic still weighs on film businessAT&T Inc.'s aggressive promotional strategy around the iPhone 12 launch paid off in terms of wireless subscriber growth, though it ate at the company's margins.

Microsoft's momentum is assured for 2021 after a blowout year-end quarter Many of Microsoft's business units had explosive growth in the three months through December.

Capital One Stock Rises After Bank Reinstates Its Dividend Capital One’s plans to reinstate its dividend of 40 cents a share, and the board’s authorization for the company to repurchase up to $7.5 billion of stock, is helping shares.

Commvault Slips Despite Strong Earnings, Upbeat Outlook, Big Buyback Plan The provider of data-management software said it is adopting a policy of returning 75% of free cash flow to holders via stock buybacks.