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Sundar Pichai, CEO, Alphabet

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Alphabet shares dropped more than 5% in extended trading on Tuesday after the company reported weaker-than-expected earnings and revenue for the third quarter.

  • Earnings per share (EPS): $1.06 vs. $1.25 expected, according to Refinitiv estimates.
  • Revenue: $69.09 billion vs. $70.58 billion expected, according to Refinitiv estimates.
  • YouTube advertising revenue: $7.07 billion vs $7.42 billion, according to StreetAccount estimates.
  • Google Cloud revenue: $6.9 billion vs $6.69 billion, according to StreetAccount estimates
  • Traffic acquisition costs (TAC): $11.83 vs $12.38, according to StreetAccount estimates

Revenue growth slowed to 6% from 41% a year earlier as the company contends with a continued downdraft in online ad spending. Other than one period early in the pandemic, it’s the weakest period for growth since 2013.

YouTube ad revenue slid about 2% to $7.07 billion from $7.21 billion a year ago. Analysts were expecting an increase of about 3%. Alphabet reported overall advertising revenue of $54.48 billion during the quarter, up slightly from the prior year.

The report marks an ominous start to Big Tech earnings week for investors focused on the digital ad market. Last week, Snap issued disappointing results and said it was unable to provide a forecast given the volatility in spending and concerns about the economy. Snap plummeted 28% on Friday following the numbers. Meta is scheduled to report results on Wednesday, and analysts are expecting a second straight quarter of declining revenue.

Prior to the after-hours drop, Alphabet shares were down 28% for the year, slightly underperforming the Nasdaq.

Alphabet’s top executives referenced the challenges the company faces at the top of Tuesday’s earnings release. CEO Sundar Pichai said in the statement that the company is “sharpening our focus on a clear set of product and business priorities,” while Ruth Porat, the finance chief, said “we’re working to realign resources to fuel our highest growth priorities.”

During the quarter, Google Cloud brought in $6.9 billion — more than analysts expected. That’s a notable increase from $5 billion the year prior. Losses in Google Cloud widened to $699 million from $644 million the year prior.

Pichai enacted some cost-cutting measures across the company, citing economic challenges, including a potential recession, soaring inflation, rising interest rates and tempered ad spending. In September, Pichai said he wanted to make the company 20% more efficient, which could include slashing jobs and product cuts.

Google also canceled the next generation of its Pixelbook laptop and cut funding to its Area 120 in-house incubator. And last month, Google said it would be shuttering its digital gaming service Stadia.

This news is breaking. Stay tuned for more updates.

WATCH: Tech sector remains strong despite challenges

Tech sector remains good despite challenging period, says Neuberger Berman's Daniel Flax

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Chinese tech giant Tencent posts 13% revenue jump as growth at key gaming unit surges

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Chinese tech giant Tencent posts 13% revenue jump as growth at key gaming unit surges

Chinese tech company Tencent is a gaming giant and the parent company of WeChat, the ubiquitous social messaging app in China.

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Tencent on Wednesday reported an annual rise in its top and bottom line in the first quarter fuelled by accelerated growth in its key gaming business.

While revenue beat expectations, its net profit fell short.

Here’s how Tencent did in the first quarter of 2025 versus LSEG estimates:

  • Revenue: 180.02 billion Chinese yuan ($25 billion), versus 174.63 billion yuan expected
  • Net profit: 47.8 billion yuan, versus 52.2 billion yuan expected

Revenue rose 13% year-on-year, while net profit was up 14%.

This breaking news story is being updated.

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Sony shares rise about 2% in volatile trading following share buyback announcement

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Sony shares rise about 2% in volatile trading following share buyback announcement

A file photo of Hiroki Totoki, Sony Group Corporation executive, delivering a keynote address at CES 2025 in Las Vegas, on January 6, 2025. 

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Sony Group shares rose about 2% Wednesday in volatile trading after the Japanese conglomerate announced a 250 billion yen ($1.7 billion) share buyback and operating income beat estimates.   

Operating income for the last three months of the financial year came in at 203.6 billion yen, beating mean analyst estimates of 192.2 billion yen, though it was down 11% from the same period last year. 

In the earnings report, the Japanese-based electronics, entertainment and finance company announced a stock buyback of shares worth 250 billion yen. 

Sony also provided details on a partial spinoff of its financial unit. The company plans to distribute slightly more than 80% of the shares of common stock of the spinoff to shareholders of Sony Group through dividends. 

The financial unit will list its financial operation this year and will be classified as a discontinued operation in Sony’s accounting from the current quarter, the company added. 

However, Sony’s outlook for the current financial year ending in March was lackluster.

The company forecasted its operating profit to rise a slight 0.3% to 1.28 trillion yen, after flagging a 100 billion yen hit from U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade war.

Yet, Sony clarified that the estimated tariff impact did not reflect the trade deal made between the U.S. and China on May 12 and that the actual impact could vary significantly. 

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Samsung Electronics to acquire heating and cooling solutions provider FläktGroup for 1.5 billion euros

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Samsung Electronics to acquire heating and cooling solutions provider FläktGroup for 1.5 billion euros

A Samsung Group flag flutters in front of the company’s Seocho building in Seoul. 

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Samsung Electronics on Wednesday announced that it would acquire all shares of German-based FläktGroup, a leading heating and cooling solutions provider, for 1.5 billion euros ($1.68 billion) from European investment firm Triton. 

Samsung said the acquisition would help it expand in the heating, ventilation and air conditioning business as the market experiences rapid growth. 

“Our commitment is to continue investing in and developing the high-growth HVAC business as a key future growth engine,” said TM Roh, Acting Head of the Device eXperience (DX) Division at Samsung Electronics.  

The acquisition of FläktGroup stands to bolster Samsung’s position in the HVAC market against rivals such as LG Electronics. 

FläktGroup supplies heating, HVAC solutions to a wide range of buildings and facilities, notably data centers which require a high degree of stable cooling. Samsung said it anticipates sustained growth in data center demand due to the proliferation of generative AI, robotics, autonomous driving and other technologies.

FläktGroup has more 60 major customers, including leading pharmaceutical companies, biotech and food and beverage firms, and gigafactories, according to Samsung’s statement.

Samsung said in March that its HVAC solutions had achieved double-digit annual revenue growth over the past five years, and that the company aimed to boost revenue by more than 30% in 2025.

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