Steve Jobs' FBI File: Tech Weekly
NEW YORK (
) -- The technology sector was abuzz with news this week, as a slew of companies reported quarterly results.
Apple
(AAPL) - Get Report
, or more precisely its late CEO, Steve Jobs, was also in the spotlight.
Jobs made big headlines on Thursday when the FBI
its file on the Apple co-founder. The file was compiled in the early '90s when Jobs was being considered for a presidential appointment under President George H.W. Bush.
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While much of what was in the file was already known thanks to Walter Isaacson's recent biography of Jobs, there were some nuggets contained in the 191-page document. The file was released under the Freedom of Information Act.
Jobs, according to the dossier, had a 2.65 grade point average in high school. The file also revealed that a bomb threat was made against Jobs and other Apple executives in 1985. Jobs was also the former part owner of forest land in Oregon, which included a mine.
Since Jobs passed away in October,
Apple has added over $100 billion in market cap
, as it marches towards a $500 share price and $500 billion market cap. To put that in perspective, Apple could be five times as valuable as
, which is set to go public later this year.
Rumors also surfaced this week that we may see the iPad 3 sometime in early March. The next version of the iPad has long been rumored, but its timing could
if customers wait to purchase the new tablet.
This would be similar to what happened when Apple missed fourth-quarter estimates because of media speculation about a new iPhone.
Apple shares gained 25 cents, 0.05%, to close the week at $493.42.
Earnings reports also drew significant attention, as releases from
Cisco Systems
(CSCO) - Get Report
,
(LNKD)
and
Groupon
(GRPN) - Get Report
were on investors' minds.
Cisco
second-quarter results, as the networking giant recovers from its
.
The company's revenue and earnings topped estimates, but it offered tepid guidance for the third-quarter, leading some to believe that CEO John Chambers was too conservative with his forecast. Cisco reported earnings of 47 cents per share on $11.5 billion in revenue. Analysts were looking for $11.23 billion in revenue and earnings of 43 cents per share.
The company also raised its quarterly dividend from 6 cents per share to 8 cents per share.
Cisco shares ended the week down 10 cents, or 0.52%, at $19.90.
Groupon
(GRPN) - Get Report
shares were hammered after the daily-deals company reported a surprise loss on Wednesday, despite showing strong revenue growth.
The Chicago-based company issued its first quarterly report since going public in early November, reporting a loss of 2 cents per share on $506.5 million in revenue. Analysts polled by
Thomson Reuters
were looking for earnings of 3 cents per share on $475 million in revenue. The company blamed the earnings miss on higher taxes related to its international operations.
Groupon also gave better-than-expected first-quarter revenue guidance, but investors were largely unimpressed. Groupon said it expects first-quarter revenue between $510 million and $550 million, above analyst expectations of $500 million.
Groupon shares ended Friday down 14 cents, or 0.66%, at $21.03.
Continuing the social networking theme,
(LNKD)
reported stronger-than-expected earnings
, as the professional services social network reported solid gains in its Hiring Solutions division.
LinkedIn reported fourth-quarter earnings of 12 cents per share on $167.7 million in revenue. Wall Street analysts polled by
Thomson Reuters
expected the company to bring in revenue of $159.7 million and earnings of 7 cents per share.
The company, which now has 150 million users, said that its Hiring Solutions division saw revenue growth of 136% year-over-year. Hiring Solutions revenue for the quarter was $84.9 million.
LinkedIn shares soared following the results, gaining $13.57, or 17.76%, to close at $89.96 on Friday.
Earnings will once again be on the forefront of investors' minds next week, as companies such as
Rackspace
(RAX)
and
NetApp
(NTAP) - Get Report
report quarterly results.
Rackspace is scheduled to report fourth-quarter earnings on Monday. Analysts polled by
Thomson Reuters
expect the cloud-computing company to earn 15 cents per share on $281 million in revenue.
NetApp is scheduled to report third-quarter earnings on Wednesday, Feb. 15. Analysts expect the networking equipment provider to report earnings of 58 cents per share on $1.56 billion in revenue.
Interested in more on Rackspace? See TheStreet Ratings' report card for
this stock
.
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Tech Trends
.
-- Written by Chris Ciaccia in New York
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