This earnings season, tech giants Amazon.com, Google and Microsoft curbed their spending to buck up their bottom lines. And Wall Street is applauding. Amazon.com (AMZN) posted a surprise second-quarter profit last Thursday in part because its costs were less than expected. Some analysts wondered if Amazon’s Q2 report is a sign that the company is starting to move away from years of heavy investing in its e-commerce and cloud
Baidu late Monday reported mixed Q2 results and gave weak revenue guidance, sending the China search giant’s stock tumbling in after-hours action. Revenue rose 38% to $2.67 billion, snapping a four-quarter string of decelerating growth. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had $2.66 billion. Baidu’s (BIDU) reported earnings per U.S. share was $1.64, up from $1.63 a year earlier but apparently missing analyst estimates for $1.71.
BY Biogen beat second-quarter earnings estimates Friday, but the big-cap biotech’s stock crashed on weak sales, sharply lower guidance and reported failure in a clinical trial. Biogen’s (BIIB) earnings, excluding one-time items, rose 21% vs. a year earlier to $4.22 a share, beating analysts’ views by 12 cents. Revenue climbed 7% to $2.6 billion, about $120 million short of consensus. Biogen slashed its full-year revenue guidance to