Hasta La Gadget!

When internet mega retailer Amazon kicked off its fiscal year this past spring with $13.8 billion in net sales, the prognosis for the quarter ahead was dour, to say the least. At the time, the company projected its Q2 2012 performance would see an operating loss of $40 million to $260 million versus Q2 2011, as well as a slight down tick in revenue at $11.9 billion to $13.3 billion quarter to quarter. Well, the numbers are in and it looks like the forecast was right on the money. The Seattle-based outfit posted $7 million in net income for the quarter, a year over year loss amounting to a whopping 96 percent decrease. As for net sales, that picture’s a bit rosier given the 29 percent increase over Q2 2011 that saw the Bezos-backed co. pull in $12.83 billion — a figure that would have risen to 32 percent were it not for a $272 million hit due to “changes in foreign exchange rates[.]” Operating cash flow for Q2 2012 was down by nearly half at $107MM compared to the same segment last year.

Unsurprisingly, the company’s budget Kindle Fire tab — which has enjoyed relatively weak competition up to now — is still the number one item across Amazon’s site, with titles in its Lending Library growing to over 170,000. Bezos also made note of Prime’s growth, pegging that subscription offering’s catalog of items at 15 million and highlighting the addition of 18,000 movies and TV shows to its streaming service.

As for the future, the company expects Q3 net sales to grow by at least 19 percent year-over-year, landing somewhere between $12.9 billion and $14.3 billion, with a projected operating loss of $50 million to $350 million. Hit up the PR after the break for the full load of financial highs and lows.

Continue reading Amazon Q2 2012 earnings: net income down 96 percent to $7 million, net sales up 29 percent to $12.83 billion

Amazon Q2 2012 earnings: net income down 96 percent to $7 million, net sales up 29 percent to $12.83 billion originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 Jul 2012 16:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Zynga‘s report for its second quarter has landed, and some things about it aren’t looking too hot. The social games giant reported a loss of $22.8 million for the quarter, which is down from the $1.4 million the company made during the same quarter last year. Revenue, on the other hand, was up for the quarter, rising 19% year-over-year to $332 million, so the news isn’t all that bad.

Some more good news for Zynga: the company reported that daily active user numbers have climbed to 72 million, up from 59 million in Q2 of 2011. Monthly active user numbers also got a boost in Q2 2012, with Zynga claiming 306 million MAUs, up 34% from Q2 2011′s 228 million. In keeping with the company’s trend for the quarter, monthly unique users also experienced growth, getting up to 192 million as compared to the 151 million it was able to boast at the same time last year. The company’s adjusted earnings-per-share came in at just a penny, which failed to meet expectations of $0.05 per share.

So, it’s a bit of both good and bad for Zynga. Having to post a loss is never good, but at least Zynga managed to get its active user numbers up during the quarter, which is one of the big things investors were worried about. However, user numbers don’t mean everything for Zynga, as most of its users don’t pay anything to play its games. Zynga makes most of its money from a small subset of its larger user base, so the best user numbers in the world don’t mean anything if none of them are paying.

Are Zynga’s fans leaving the company behind as they begin to graduate from Facebook social games to mobile games? That remains to be entirely seen, but Zynga is definitely one to watch as we head into quarters 3 and 4 of 2012.

Zynga posts $22.8 million loss in Q2 2012 report is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

As Apple‘s Q3 earnings unfold this week it’s become clear that the Apple TV is the unsung hero of the day with massive sales compared to this same quarter last year. Apple TV sales have risen 170% over last year at this time, with 1.3 million units being moved here in Apple’s fiscal Q3 2012. Apple on the other hand is still calling this product a “hobby” as sales are nowhere near what the iPhone and iPad have racked up for the quarterly report.

To further drive the point home, Apple didn’t release information on the Apple TV inside their normal sales report, relying instead on the question and answer section to allow the facts appear on their own. Asking what Apple was planning on doing with the Apple TV and what their “updated thoughts” on the system were, the response was simple.

“We sold 1.3 million last quarter, up more than 170% year over year. That brings our fiscal year to 4 million units. This is pretty incredible. It’s all still at a level that we would call a “hobby”, but we’ll continue to pull the string to see where it takes us. Apple is not one to keep around projects that we don’t believe in. There are a lot of people here that believe in Apple TV, and we’ll continue to invest.”

Past quarters yielded numbers such as 100,000 units sold in the first month of sales of the Apple TV back in 2007, with well over a million units sold by the holiday season of that year. The fourth quarter of 2008 had unit sales tripling the fourth quarter of 2007, and the first quarter of 2009 again tripled sales compared to the same quarter the year before as well.

Stick around as Apple’s investment in the Apple TV continues, and check the timeline below to keep up to date with the last few blips on the system as well.

Apple TV sales boom 170% as “the hobby” gets serious is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

This financial quarter has been a surprise for Apple in that analysts actually aimed a bit loftier than the company’s actual landing point, but that doesn’t mean $8.8 billion dollars in net income is anything to scoff at. Apple’s sales rose to $35 billion USD this quarter compared to $28.6 billion on year ago at this time as well. Net income at $8.8 billion is just a bit of a bump from $7.3 billion, while profit ended up being $9.32 a share – this joined by Apple’s decision to once again offer a dividend to stock holders.

Analysts on average – according to Forbes, anyway – had the company set up for sales of $37.2 billion and a profit of $10.36 a share. These numbers show Apple for the first time since 2003 beating analysts average estimates, while Cupertino certainly remains bullish for the very near future. Apple also let investors know that they sold 26 million iPhone and 17 million iPads this past quarter as well.

Have a peek at the rest of our Q3 Apple financial coverage in the timeline below (with a few bonus earnings posts from quarters past), and prepare for more revelations as the day goes on.

Apple Q3 income hits $8.8 billion is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

This week Apple’s earnings call started off with a bang with great news for investors in the blockbuster company – dividends for all common stock. Apple’s Board of Directors declared no less than a dividend of $2.65 USD per share on all of the Company’s common stock, payable later this year to all stockholders. This is not the first time Apple has made cash payouts to their loyal stockholders, and we expect that it will not be the last.

Apple notes that this dividend is payable on August 16th, 2012, and that all stockholders of the basic Common stock will receive the amount quoted per share. Those eligible to receive this amount will have had to have been stockholders of record as of the close of the business day on August 13, 2012. The ex-dividend date is August 9, 2012 as well – keep all that in mind, you traders, you!

Have a peek at the rest of the earnings news as it unfolds here at the tail end of Apple’s 2012 financial 3rd quarter, and check out the timeline below for more recent Apple news driving the company forward.

Apple declares new giant stock dividend for Q3 is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.