earnings

Microsoft: We're going to broaden Surface lineup

During Microsoft's second-quarter earnings conference call today, the company's chief financial officer reiterated that the lineup of Surface devices will expand.

After Microsoft reported reported earning today, Chief Financial Officer Peter Klein spoke about future Surface products -- though he was mum about specifics.

"We had limited distribution this quarter in our stores and we're excited about expanding that [distribution]," he said, responding to an analyst's question.

"We're going to expand geographically, we're going to expand the product lineup, we're going to expand retail distribution and capacity," he said, … Read more

Samsung quarterly profit jumps 76 percent on Galaxy sales

Samsung Electronics, the world's largest consumer electronics maker, said its fourth-quarter profit rose 76 percent to another record high on strong sales of Galaxy smartphones and tablets.

The South Korean electronics giant today reported a net profit of 7.04 trillion won ($6.6 billion), up from 4.01 trillion won in the same period a year earlier.

It was the fifth consecutive record quarterly profit for Samsung, which reported fourth-quarter sales of 56 trillion won ($52.6 billion), a 19 percent increase. Nearly half of that revenue came from its mobile communications division, particularly strong sales of its … Read more

Twitter is loopy for Vine videos

Thursday's CNET Update is longer than six seconds:

Today's tech news roundup explains why Apple's latest earnings report of record revenue and sales has disappointed investors. Tim Cook also had little to say about an Apple television and fixes to the Maps app.

Netflix surprised analysts with reported profit and growth. Netflix will push out it's own TV series, "House of Cards," on Feb. 1, and new episodes of Arrested Development are arriving in May.

Hundreds of AT&T U-verse customers have had to live without TV, Internet or phone service for several days. … Read more

Apple's post-earnings stock slide continues

Shares of Apple continued to slide today, edging toward levels the stock hasn't touched since last January.

After opening down more than 10 percent this morning at $460.46 a share, the stock closed at $450.46, down $63.55, or 12.36 percent. It's the largest single-day percentage drop since 2008 for the company's shares, and follows yesterday's earnings report that missed Wall Street's expectations.

As mentioned in previous coverage, Wall Street is skittish about Apple's flat profits, as well as its guidance for the next quarter, which came in between $2.5 … Read more

Microsoft Q2: By the numbers

Microsoft has issued its first earnings scorecard since the introduction of the Windows 8 operating system and of Surface, its first branded tablet computer. The company's fiscal second-quarter report also opens the latest window -- no pun intended -- onto the pace of decline of PC shipments as more people switch over to smartphones and tablets.

Here are some of the highlights by the numbers:

Revenue: $21.5 billion Net income: $6.38 billion Windows: $5.88 billion, up 24 percent year-over year. (That number includes revenue deferrals tied to an earlier upgrade offer as well as presales. On … Read more

AT&T narrows Q4 loss to $3.9B, sells 8.6M iPhones

AT&T posted a narrower fourth-quarter loss, which was again weighed down by a change in the valuation of its employee pension plan.

Reporting results today, the company, however, added 780,000 contract subscribers in the period, and sold a record 10.2 million smartphones, of which 8.6 million were iPhones.

AT&T posted a loss of $3.9 billion, or 68 cents a share, compared with a loss of $6.7 billion, or $1.12 a share, in the same period a year ago. Excluding the pension issues, an adjustment for the sale of its advertising … Read more

Nokia shows signs of life, but North America market still a blip

Nokia's got a pulse again, but it will take a lot more juice to fully jolt the company back to life.

The Finnish mobile device maker today reported its fourth-quarter results, and the signs are encouraging. After several quarters of losses, the company returned to profitability. Its Lumia smartphone brand, which features the Windows Phone operating system, appears to be taking hold, with the company selling 4.4 million units worldwide in the period.

Stlil, Nokia has a lot of more work to do. While it made steady progress in North America, this remains a relatively small market for … Read more

Apple still in the doghouse with Wall Street

It appears that Wall Street is still suffering from an Apple hangover.

Apple yesterday posted its fiscal first-quarter results and got hammered for it. Now it's the morning after, and investors are continuing to run for the hills. Shares are down more than 10 percent to $460.76, wiping nearly $50 billion off of its market value.

The results themselves weren't bad. In fact, they were quite good: record sales of iPhones and iPads, nearly $55 billion in revenue and $13.4 billion in profit.

But investors aren't looking at how Apple did, and instead are more … Read more

Nokia pulls off a profit, holds out hope for the future

Nokia might be down, but it's certainly not out.

The company today reported its fourth-quarter earnings, and offered up performance that might make its doomsayers think twice. During the fourth quarter, Nokia was able to generate a profit of 202 million euros ($269 million), a massive gain over the 1 billion euros the company lost during the same period in 2011. Still, Nokia's profit came amid slumping revenue that fell from 10 billion euros in the fourth quarter of 2011 to 8 billion last quarter.

On a full-year basis, Nokia could only muster 30.2 billion euros in … Read more