Wall Street

Mobile Ads Show Life in Google Q1 Earnings
April 19, 2013

Google released a quarterly earnings report Thursday that beat estimates and also showed the company may be coming to grips with the problem of monetizing its mobile platform. The tech giant reported net income of $3.35 billion, or $9.94 per share during the first three months of the year, a 16 percent jump from the same time a year ago. Google's first-quarter revenue was $13.97 billion, a 31 percent increase from a year earlier.

Icelandic App Aims to Prevent Accidental Incest
April 18, 2013

Before knocking boots, knock phones. Three software engineers at the University of Iceland have designed an app to alert people if a casual encounter might in fact be casual incest. By bumping their mobile devices together, the app lets users -- and potential partners -- instantly compare their lineage, showing the nearest common ancestors. If a close relative is detected, users are alerted via an alarm and text warning.

eBay Likely to Be Forgiven for Q1 Misses
April 18, 2013

eBay posted solid first-quarter earnings on Wednesday, but the company underperformed based on projections by Wall Street. eBay then delivered guidance that did not meet the mark, doubling investors' disappointment. As a result, they are casting worried eyes toward eBay's future. "eBay, though economically resilient, is not immune to the slowdown in Europe," said Charles Lewis Sizemore, a Covestor model manager.

Apple Falls From Investors' Grace
April 18, 2013

Apple's stock took another hit on Thursday, sinking to a dismal $392.25 by the closing bell. Fears have been mounting about Apple's place in the world, and they were heightened earlier this week by a report from a key supplier, Cirrus Logic, which posted a disappointing revenue forecast. On Wednesday, Apple's shares dipped below $400 per unit for the first time in more than a year.

Yahoo Investors Waiting to Exhale
April 18, 2013

Yahoo's latest earnings report was a mixed bag, and Wall Street didn't seem to know how it should react. Following Tuesday's report, the company's stock dropped slightly on Wednesday, then rose slightly and ended the day a tiny bit ahead. On Thursday, Yahoo shares were off by about 2 percent mid-day, in sync with the market overall.

PC Slump Chips Away at Intel's Q1
April 17, 2013

Intel released a quarterly earnings report Tuesday that fell slightly short of already low expectations, thanks to weak worldwide PC sales. The world's largest computer chip manufacturer reported first quarter revenue of $12.6 billion, a 2 percent drop from the same time a year ago. Net income was $2 billion, or about 40 cents per share, compared with $2.7 billion, or 53 cents per share a year earlier.

VCs Throw Foursquare a Hail Mary Pass
April 13, 2013

Foursquare, the poster child for check-in tech when the trend was hot, announced this week that it has raised $41 million in a new financing round. The funding was provided by private-equity firm Silver Lake and existing investors Andreessen Horowitz, O'Reilly AlphaTech Ventures, Spark Capital, and Union Square Ventures. What is striking about this transaction is that the funding was debt -- specifically convertible debt -- rather than equity.

Eggs in HTC's One Basket Showing Some Cracks
April 09, 2013

HTC announced earnings for the first quarter of 2013 that were decidedly not pretty. Its net profit dropped some 98 percent -- the lowest quarterly earnings for the company since its launch in 2006. HTC posted $1.4 billion in revenue for the quarter ending March 31, 2013, a 37 percent drop year over year. Simply put, these numbers are dismal, said Andreas Scherer, managing partner of Salto Partners.

Tweets Added to Bloomberg's Financial News Portfolio
April 06, 2013

The Bloomberg business and financial news service has begun streaming Twitter feeds to the 310,000 subscribers to its Bloomberg Professional service, including many who work in front of the media company's terminals that are widely used on Wall Street and in the finance industry. Bloomberg classifies tweets by company, asset class, person and topic. Its Twitter filter lets users control and specify what they want to monitor.

Marketo Winds Up for Risky IPO
April 03, 2013

Marketing automation company Marketo filed paperwork with the SEC on Tuesday to launch an initial public offering valued at $75 million. The company has not yet proposed a stock price. It does say in the filing that it is considered an "emerging growth company," and it plans to list on Nasdaq under the symbol "MKTO." The most telling portion of the filing was the company's description of risks.

SEC Lets Companies Go Social With Market-Moving News
April 03, 2013

The Securities and Exchange Commission released a new set of disclosure rules Tuesday that allow executives to use social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter to update investors about significant corporate announcements that fall under Regulation Fair Disclosure mandates. As long as executives alert their investors about which blog or social networking sites will be used to post announcements, CEOs can fill those online venues with news about their companies.

eBay PayPals It Forward
April 02, 2013

eBay is enjoying a surge on Wall Street in the wake of last week's analyst day, when it reassured Wall Street and investors that growth from its core Marketplaces and PayPal businesses was on track. It was the first time since 2011 that analysts had gathered at the company's San Jose, Calif., headquarters.

BlackBerry's Q4 Black Ink Bewilders Wall Street
March 28, 2013

After a bumpy lead-up to the launch of its Z10 handset, BlackBerry surprised Wall Street on Thursday by reporting a profit for its fourth quarter ending March 2. That wasn't enough to offset its accumulation of losses, though; it reported a net loss of $628 million for the entire fiscal year. It posted fourth-quarter revenue of $2.7 billion, and GAAP income of $94 million, or 18 cents per share.

Sharks Circle Struggling Dell
March 26, 2013

Dell confirmed Monday that two new possible buyers have submitted bids for the company: Boulder Acquisition Corp. and its Blackstone Group affiliate; and perennial corporate raider Carl Icahn. Dell has already accepted an offer made earlier this year by founder Michael Dell and Silver Lake, but it is bound by law to seek alternative offers.

Marin Software Rocks Wall Street
March 25, 2013

As initial public offerings go, Marin Software couldn't have asked for much better than its Friday debut on the New York Stock Exchange. Late Thursday, it priced its stock at $14 per unit, higher than the anticipated range of $11-$13. Then it sold 7.5 million shares -- half a million more than originally expected -- raising about $105 million.

Oracle's Q3 Malaise Could Be Contagious
March 21, 2013

The bulls have been running on Wall Street but every silver lining apparently is cloaked in a gray cloud. In this case, it's the dismal Q3 earnings report Oracle released on Wednesday. Oracle did actually make money. The company reported third quarter earnings of $2.5 billion, or 52 cents a share, on revenue of $8.96. However, that was down 1 percent from a year earlier.

Adobe Earnings Rush In but CTO Rushes to Apple's Arms
March 20, 2013

Adobe reported a strong first quarter of 2013 Tuesday, just as news hit that Chief Technology Officer Kevin Lynch is leaving the company and heading to Apple. The company beat analyst expectations for the quarter. Adobe reported a revenue of $1.008 billion, with net income coming in at $177.9 million.

Riccitiello Booted as EA Reboots
March 19, 2013

John Riccitiello, who was at the helm of video game publisher Electronic Arts as it tried to navigate major shifts in the industry, will step down as CEO on March 30. Chairman Larry Probst, EA's CEO when Riccitiello took over in 2007, will serve as the company's executive chairman and temporary leader while it searches for a new chief executive.

Supply Chain Snags Weigh Down Apple's Stock
March 13, 2013

Jefferies on Tuesday became the latest Wall Street firm to downgrade its Apple price target as it blamed a delay with an iPhone product launch and slower smartphone sales. Analyst Peter Misek trimmed his target price from $500 to $420. Several other analysts also have downgraded the stock since it fell from its $705 peak last September.

Bringing Icahn Into Dell's Henhouse Could Be Foxy Move
March 11, 2013

Carl Icahn has been pushing back against Dell's proposal to go private in a $24.4 billion deal. Dell finally gave way -- a little -- and is allowing Icahn to examine the company's confidential information. Dell has been battling shareholders about the proposed leveraged buyout almost since it was unveiled in February.