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.
Eric Mitchell, sports analyst and co-founder & head of media relations at Lifeflip Media joins Cheddar News to discuss how covid-19 is impacting pro sports.
David Slotnick, Senior Aviation Business Reporter at The Points Guy joins Cheddar News to discuss how airlines are handling holiday travel amid the recent coronavirus surge.
A new study from a Russian university finds that LEGO sets can be a lucrative investment, rising in value by 11 percent every year, a faster and better rate of return than gold, stocks, bonds, and wine. Victoria Dobrynskaya, associate professor of finance at Higher School of Economics University and author of the research, joined Cheddar to discuss the findings. "In general, most sets tend to appreciate after they're retired, after you cannot find them in LEGO stores," she said. "They tend to appreciate on the secondary market after a couple of years."
Stocks closed lower to end the day Thursday, the second to last trading day of 2021. The Dow snapped a six-day winning streak, and the S&P 500 was weighed down by chip and energy stocks. This all comes as weekly jobless claims fell to a 52-year low to 198,000. Kevin Riley, Managing Partner at Exponential Investment Partners, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss today's close, his 2022 market predictions, the state of business in China, and more.
Daniel Newman, Founding Partner and Principal Analyst at Futurum Research, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he says the markets are going to feel very uncomfortable receiving news of more potential setbacks for chip manufacturers after already enduring a lengthy chip shortage.
