Apple's revenue grew considerably during the most recent quarter but iPhone sales were down. The company sold 77.3 million iPhones during the holiday quarter, about one million less than the same time last year. It's the first time Apple has ever seen declining sales on its iPhones during the holiday season. However, the company did post $88.3 billion in revenue, up 13% from last year.
There was good news and bad news in the earnings report for Alphabet, the parent company of Google. The company beat expectations on revenue but fell short on earnings. Ad sales were strong but that profit was offset by increased ad spending.
And Amazon soared past Wall Street expectations thanks to strong holiday sales. The company beat on revenue and earnings. Amazon also set a new record, posting profits above $1 billion for the first time.
We dive into these earnings reports with Gene Munster, Managing Partner at Loup Ventures. Munster believes Amazon's profitability was a one-time thing. He is also predicting that Apple will release a new iPhone soon with a screen that's 25% bigger.
Plus, Cheddar's CEO Jon Steinberg talks to veteran newsman Dan Rather about his new partnership with The Young Turks. Rather now has a half-hour show airing on the network's YouTube channel. "The News with Dan Rather" will offer commentary and analysis on today's news, something he never did on "CBS Evening News." The show airs Mondays at 5:30pm ET.
Ross Mayfield, Investment Strategy Analyst at Baird, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he breaks down a very up-and-down week on Wall Street that included a late Friday rally to send the major indexes sharply higher on the day.
NFT art platform TRLab recently raised $4.2 million in funding. TRLab launched just last year but says its platform focused on NFT curation and distribution is growing quickly. The company hopes to bridge traditional and digital art worlds and help artists explore NFTs as an emerging medium. TRLab co-founder and chairwoman Xin Li-Cohen and co-founder and CEO Audrey Ou joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Chris Vecchio, senior analyst at DailyFX, joins Cheddar News to discuss what investors should watch as the three major indexes see wild swings all week.
Diageo, one of the largest distillers in the world, recently reported its global sales have surpassed pre-COVID levels. Debra Crew, the company's North American president, joined Cheddar to discuss the surging sales, supply chain disruptions, and its efforts in non-alcoholic beer and spirits. "We had growth across all five regions," Crew said. "A year ago that wasn't true. This was really more of a North America recovery story. This year you really see this across the globe, people returning back in. On premise reopening really helped us." The producers of Don Julio tequila and Ketel One vodka also opened a new carbon neutral distillery in Lebanon, Kentucky.
Although the auto industry is faced with chip shortages and supply chain woes, Tesla was still expected to report record earnings, and Elon Musk did not disappoint. Jon Rettinger, President of JFL Network, joins Cheddar News to discuss the company, the electric vehicle competition, and growth for the auto industry.
