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.
Earnings season continues in the week of December 6 - 10, and that's only the start of a slate of events on the calendar that may move markets. We will also see executives from the crypto world and Instagram Head Adam Mosseri testify before members of Congress, and Square's name change to Block officially goes into effect.
Joe Gagliese, Co-Founder and CEO of Viral Nation, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he discusses how influencer marketing is coming to cryptocurrencies and NFTs and outlines what we could expect to see on that front in 2022.
Stocks closed lower Friday after a volatile week that saw investor skittishness over the COVID-19 omicron variant. Investors were also eyeing the mixed November jobs report, which showed a lower than expected number of 210,000 jobs added, but unemployment falling to 4.2%. Aadil Zaman, Partner at Wall Street Alliance Group, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss today's close, the mixed jobs report, what impact the omicron variant could have on markets, and more.
Many restaurants across the country have lately turned off delivery and online orders during peak hours, as eateries are still struggling with labor shortages and as many are also seeing more customers return for in-person dining. Wall Street Journal reporter Heather Haddon joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
November's jobs report is tricky: nonfarm payrolls only increased by 210,000, following an October gain of 546,000. At the same time, the unemployment rate fell to 4.2% - and the labor force participation rate rose 61.8% to its highest level since March 2020. Also of note: the retail sector saw a decline of 20,000 jobs despite what was once a traditional late fall push to hire before the holiday sales rush. What's going on in the labor market, and can we expect more volatile numbers as the omicron variant spreads during the winter months? Adam Ozimek, Chief economist at Upwork, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss the mixed jobs report, sector winners and losers, retail's flip-flop, and more.
Chinese regulators are reportedly behind China-based ride-hailing company DiDi exiting from the New York Stock Exchange, just days after listing earlier this year. The regulators stated prior that DiDi had not received the necessary clearances to list in the states. Gordon Chang, Asian affairs expert, joined Cheddar to break down what the delisting says about the relationship between nations. "This really strikes me as an attempt to really to force a decoupling of China and the U.S. in the financial markets," Chang said.
Hologram communication platform maker PORTL is looking to take communication to the next level. Founder and CEO David Nussbaum joined Cheddar to talk about the company's recent $12 million Series A funding round that will be used to bring the concept of holoportation to market. Nussbaum noted his hologram technology is just not comparable to augmented reality or virtual metaverses because the image projection is happening in real-time and in actual reality. "Well, unlike VR or AR, we're 'R.' We're real. You don't need a headset. You don't need wearables. You don't need to download anything. It's incredible," he said.
