Stocks to Watch: Google, IBM, Apple
NEW YORK --
(GOOG) - Get Alphabet Inc. Class C Report
, the search giant, posted fourth-quarter earnings growth of 12%.
Google earned $10.65 a share in the quarter on $11.3 billion in revenue, excluding traffic acquisition costs. With TAC, Google generated $14.42 billion in sales, up 36% from the same period last year.
"We ended 2012 with a strong quarter," CEO Larry Page in a prepared statement following the release of the results after Tuesday's close of trading. "Revenues were up 36% year-on-year, and 8% quarter-on-quarter. And we hit $50 billion in revenues for the first time last year -- not a bad achievement in just a decade and a half. "
Analysts were expecting Google to earn $10.49 a share on fourth-quarter revenue of $12.3 billion.
Cost-per-click, a key metric for ads, fell 6% year over year, but rose 2% on a sequential basis, Google said.
Google Jumps on Earnings Beat, CPC Rise
IBM
(IBM) - Get International Business Machines Corporation Report
topped Wall Street's fourth-quarter earnings estimates, boosted by strength in its software business.
The tech giant reported revenue Tuesday of $29.3 billion, down from $29.5 billion in the same period last year, but above analysts' estimates of $29.09 billion. Excluding items, IBM earned $5.39 a share, up from $4.71 a share a year earlier. Analysts expected earnings of $5.25 a share.
Software revenue in the quarter rose 3% (or 4% adjusted for currency) to $7.9 billion.
For fiscal 2013, IBM expects earnings, excluding items, of $16.70 a share. Analysts forecast earnings of $16.63 a share.
IBM Beats, Boosted By Software
TheStreet Recommends
Apple
(AAPL) - Get Apple Inc. Report
, the iPod, iPhone and iPad maker, is expected by analysts Wednesday to post quarterly earnings of $13.43 a share on revenue of close to $55 billion.
Shares of the tech giant have fallen more than 20% over the past three months, which has prompted research firms to posit that there may be waning interest in Apple's products.
Kantar Worldpanel issued a note that showed while Apple has more than 50% market share in the United States, with 51.2% as of Dec. 23, that's down from 53.3% as of Nov. 25, leading to perhaps a growing concern that Apple products are growing stale.
Apple reports after Wednesday's close of trading.
TheStreet
will be live-blogging the earnings reports beginning at 3:45 p.m. EST
Is Apple Losing Its Luster? Not by a Long Shot
McDonald's
(MCD) - Get McDonald's Corporation Report
, the world's biggest fast-food chain, is expected by analysts Wednesday to report fourth-quarter earnings of $1.33 a share on revenue of $6.89 billion.
Abbott Laboratories
(ABT) - Get Abbott Laboratories Report
is expected by analysts Wednesday to report fourth-quarter profit of $1.50 a share on revenue of $10.58 billion.
Health insurer
WellPoint
(WLP)
is expected by Wall Street to post quarterly earnings Wednesday of 96 cents a share on revenue of $15.32 billion.
Shares of
Dell
(DELL) - Get Dell Technologies Inc Class C Report
jumped 2.2% Tuesday following reports that
Microsoft
(MSFT) - Get Microsoft Corporation Report
could invest as $3 billion in an eventual takeover of the struggling PC maker.
The Wall Street Journal
, citing people familiar with the deliberations, reported Wednesday that Microsoft entered talks in recent days with private-equity firm Silver Lake Partners and Dell founder Michael Dell to buy the computer maker from public stockholders.
Dell Pops on Microsoft Rumors: Winners & Losers
-- Written by Joseph Woelfel
>To contact the writer of this article, click here:
Joseph Woelfel
>To submit a news tip, send an email to:
.
