Jeff Bezos - Getty - H 2016
Getty ImagesAmazon is still showing investors that it can turn a profit, but not one big enough to appease them.
The company’s stock was trading down more than 5 percent afterhours on Thursday after a third-quarter earnings report did not match Wall Street’s expectations. The company reported diluted earnings of 52 cents per share, significantly lower than the 78 cents per diluted share that was expected.
Revenue was up 29 percent year-over-year to $32.7 billion, just slightly above the $32.69 billion analysts polled by Thomson Reuters were anticipating.
CEO Jeff Bezos‘ statement about the company’s third quarter focused on the demand for its Alexa product, calling it “Amazon’s most loved invention yet.” Amazon also spent significant ink highlighting its growing slate of film and TV projects, including Oscar contender Manchester by the Sea and Emmy winner Transparent.
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Amazon also said that its new self-distribution platform Amazon Video Direct has streamed billions of minutes.
Streaming, too, was an important component of Alphabet’s earnings call. The Google parent company continued to tout the growth of YouTube, noting that the three live-streamed presidential debates were the most-viewed of any political live stream on the platform. Google CEO Sundar Pichai also noted that the recent debut of YouTube Red original Single by 30 has attracted new subscribers to the new service.
Including all businesses, and other bets, Alphabet reported third-quarter adjusted earnings of $9.06 a share. Revenue was up 20 percent to $22.45 billion.
Alphabet’s revenue continues to be driven by its online advertising business. It is Google’s leadership position in this space, along with Facebook, that has media executives like Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes talking about competing in the digital advertising business through the sale of his company to AT&T for $85 billion.
Google shares were trading up afterhours on the strong quarter, even as its more long-term “other bets” division continues to lose money.
