
Divisions Emerge in the Democratic Party Over Trump's Immigration Law
Section: News
In the latest financial disclosures, Alphabet Inc. reported impressive earnings for the fourth quarter of 2024, achieving a total revenue of $96.5 billion, marking a 12% increase from the same period in the previous year. The company managed to retain $31 billion as operating profit, reflecting a 31% growth and boosting its operating margin from 27% to 32%. The operational cash flow for this quarter surged to $39.1 billion, more than doubling compared to the previous year.
However, despite these seemingly positive figures, investor sentiment was less than favorable, leading to a significant drop of over 7% in Alphabet's stock price during after-hours trading following the announcement. Investors had anticipated even stronger results, which has raised concerns regarding the company's increasing expenditures, particularly in its artificial intelligence initiatives. The bulk of Alphabet's revenue continues to stem from advertising, but the growth in cloud services has now overtaken income from subscription services and device sales.
During the entirety of 2024, Alphabet achieved a record total revenue of $350 billion, equating to nearly $1 billion per day, and recorded its first-ever operating profit exceeding $100 billion. Nevertheless, a rise in the expected tax burden to $5.7 billion has contributed to the disappointment among shareholders, particularly as the company's reserves appear to be diminishing, casting doubts on future dividend prospects.
On a contrasting note, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) has also reported record-breaking figures, concluding 2024 with revenues surpassing $7.7 billion in the fourth quarter alone, a 24% increase compared to the same quarter last year. This achievement signifies AMD's strongest quarterly performance ever, as the company closes the gap with Intel, which is currently facing financial challenges. AMD's annual revenue for 2024 reached approximately $25.8 billion, marking a 9% increase from 2022 and a 14% increase from 2023.
AMD's CEO, Lisa Su, highlighted the significant contribution of AI accelerators to their growth, alongside a robust performance in their client segment, particularly with Ryzen processors. This strategic focus on AI technologies has positioned AMD to capitalize effectively on market trends, particularly as companies increasingly integrate AI solutions into their operations.
In another sector, PayPal has also shown positive growth, exceeding market expectations for both the fourth quarter and the entire year of 2024. The number of active users and average transaction volumes have both increased, bolstered by the success of its mobile payment service, Venmo. However, despite this optimistic outlook, PayPal's stock experienced a decline post-announcement.
Turning to the automotive sector, General Motors (GM) has announced significant layoffs at its subsidiary, Cruise, responsible for the development of self-driving taxis. Following a decision to halt operations of its autonomous taxi service due to rising costs and intensified competition, GM will retain only half of Cruise's workforce of approximately 2,300 employees, resulting in several layoffs as the company reevaluates its future in this market.
Additionally, a troubling incident involving Seagate hard drives has emerged, with reports indicating that fraudulent activities led to the distribution of used drives being sold as new. These drives have reportedly logged an average of 25,000 hours of usage, raising concerns about their reliability and safety for consumers.
In other notable news, various technological advancements and regulatory updates are making headlines, including significant developments in the Linux kernel, as well as the introduction of new battery solutions for wearable devices like the Apple Watch.
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