Facebook's quarterly profit surges 186% to $2 billion

Facebook's quarterly profit surges 186% to $2 billion

Facebook’s profit leapt 186% from a year ago to $2 billion, as the world's biggest social network blasted past most analyst forecasts for the second quarter.

With its global base of monthly active users growing to 1.71 billion, Facebook saw a 59% jump in total revenues to $6.4 billion, mostly from online advertising.

Facebook shares jumped seven percent in after-hours trade on the stronger-than-expected results.

"Our community and business had another good quarter," said Facebook founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg. "We're particularly pleased with our progress in video as we move towards a world where video is at the heart of all our services."

Facebook has been dominating the social media space as well as related online advertising as it seeks to diversify into areas such as messaging, virtual reality and other fields.

The research firm eMarketer estimates that Facebook is taking in two-thirds of social media ad revenues, dominating rivals such as Twitter, which this week reported disappointing results.

The number of monthly active users, a key metric for social networks, grew 15% from a year ago, Facebook said. read more

India is the apple of CEO Tim Cook's eye as iPhone sales spike over 50%

India is the apple of CEO Tim Cook's eye as iPhone sales spike over 50%

India has become one among the fastest growing markets for Apple, which is looking at increasingly offloading more iPhones in the country to offset the decline in the device’s sales globally.

iPhone sales in India were up by 51% during the nine months that ended June 30, company CEO Tim Cook revealed during an earnings call with analysts and investors. “We're looking forward to opening retail stores in India down the road, and we see huge potential for that vibrant country,” he added.

On the contrary, iPhone sales have fallen for two straight quarters now as the global market for smartphones especially developed markets) becomes saturated. In its third quarter (April-June), Apple reported a 15% drop in iPhone sales from 47.5 million units in the corresponding quarter last year to 40.4 million units.

The iPhone contributes to over 60% of Apple’s earnings, making it the most important device in the company’s lineup.

Read More | Business Standard

5 key takeaways from the Infosys results

5 key takeaways from the Infosys results

It does not take the markets too long to analyse Infosys’ results. Within seconds of announcement of the results, the stock price reflects what the market thinks about it. It was a poor start for Infosys for FY17 with the first quarter number missing analysts’ expectation on the revenue front. The markets showed their disappointment by pushing the stock 9% lower. The June quarter numbers came as a surprise, especially when market was getting complacent on Infosys beating expectations as it did in it last four quarters.

Apart from revenue there are some more disappointments in the quarterly numbers. Here are five key takeaways from the Infosys results.

1. The company reported 2.2% QoQ growth in dollar revenues but a 1.7% growth in constant currency terms which was mainly on account of lower volume growth which grew by 2.2% as compared to 2.4% in the previous quarter. Justifying the lower-than-expected numbers, Infosys CEO Dr. Vishal Sikka said “We had unanticipated headwinds in discretionary spending in consulting services and package implementations as well as slower project ramp-ups in large deals that we had won in earlier quarters, resulting in a lower than expected growth in Q1.”Read More

Mumbai University likely to announce TYBA results on Monday

Mumbai University likely to announce TYBA results on Monday

The University of Mumbai (MU) will declare results of the Third Year Bachelor of Arts (TYBA) examination on June 20, 2016. It will be available on the official website of the varsity, http://mu.ac.in, most likely in the afternoon.

Candidates, who have appeared for the exam, can download the result from the website.

Here is a step-by-step guide on how to:

1. Open the results page on MU official website http://mu.ac.in/portal/results/

2. Select the stream – Arts

3. Enter your Seat Number, name, date of birth and other credentials as required

4. Click submit

5. Download the marksheet / score card and take a printout

The marksheet issued will include subject-wise details and the candidates can check their overall percentage. However, the online marksheet is a reference copy and hence temporary.

The valid and original marksheet by the MU board would be available at the students' respective colleges. The University is yet to announce date of issuance of the marksheet.

It is likely that owing to the heavy traffic the page might load a bit slowly. The students are therefore urged to be patient and keep refreshing the page.

For more information about the TYBA results 2016, students can contact theMumbai University board by calling on Fort Campus or Kalina Campus:contact No.

Read More.

Cognizant rings alarm bell for Indian IT services players

With Cognizant, which has so far defied the trend of moderate growth in information technology (IT) services sector, projecting lower growth in calendar year (CY) 2016, export-dependant Indian companies have a major reason to worry.

The Nasdaq-listed IT services company on Monday said it expects revenue to grow at 9.9–14.3 per cent, one of its lowest ever, and cautioned about spending cuts by the clients in financial services and healthcare sectors.

It has come as a surprise for many that Cognizant, which was known for best growth among its peers, has given outlook whose lower end trails the overall industry guidance issued by Nasscom. For CY16, Nasscom expects IT services to grow between 10-12 per cent, lower than the previous year.