Google, Apple, Microsoft and Facebook earn more than ever: more than 5,000 million euros a week

The logos of Apple, Google, Amazon and Facebook DENIS CHARLET / AFP

The pandemic is further strengthening the leadership of large US technology firms, which beat revenue and profit records quarter by quarter, thanks to the rise of electronic commerce and digital services.

The four largest US tech groups - Alphabet, Apple, Microsoft and Facebook - posted net joint earnings of $ 67.2 billion (€ 57 billion) in the latest quarter, more than $ 6 billion (€ 5.1 billion). a week.

Between April 1 and June 30, of the big four technology companies, Apple was the one that obtained the highest profit, of 21,744 million dollars. It was followed by Alphabet, which posted a profit of 18,500 million, Microsoft with 16,500 million and Facebook, with another 10,400 million dollars of profit. In this way, together, they achieved exactly 67,144 million dollars of profit.

This acceleration is not something isolated from the last three months.

Alphabet, Google's parent company, announced a net profit in the first half of the year of 36,455 million dollars, which is 2.6 times more than those obtained in the same period last year.

Apple, for its part, reported profits in the first nine months of its fiscal year of 74,129 million dollars, 66% more than in the same period of the previous year.

And Microsoft's net profit for its fiscal year 2021 as a whole rose to $ 61,271 million, 38% more than the previous year.

For its part, Facebook doubled its profits in the second quarter to 10,394 million.

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Google's 'online' advertising grows

In the case of Alphabet, the increase in advertising investment on the Internet after the end of restrictions due to the pandemic in much of the world has allowed Google's parent company to shoot its profits more than double.

Regarding sales, in the first half of its fiscal year, the Mountain View-based firm had a turnover of 117,194 million dollars, 47% more than in the first half of 2020.

The firm that owns the most used internet search engine in the world saw its turnover increase in all its segments, with the advertising business accounting for 81.5% of them.

Within the advertising branch, the income derived from ads through Google is the highest (35,845 million in the last quarter), although those from the YouTube video portal, also owned, are the ones that grow at a faster rate fast, 84% year-on-year, to $ 7,002 million.

Apart from advertising, the company also raises money through its cloud computing platform, Google Cloud, which in the past three months contributed $ 4.628 million to the company's coffers, 54% more.

"There is a growing tide of

online

activity

in many parts of the world, and we are proud that our services are helping so many consumers and businesses," Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said in presenting the accounts.

Apple: the iPhone is unstoppable

Apple announced that in the first nine months of its fiscal year, which begins in October, it earned $ 282,457 million, above the 209,817 invoiced in the same nine months of last year, boosted by the iPhone and services.

By business segment, the iPhone phone, which two years ago was in a certain downward trend in conflict with Huawei or Samsung and was putting its preeminence as Apple's main source of income at risk, is experiencing a resurgence with extraordinary force , and it already accounts for more than half of all the company's sales.

Thus, of the 282,457 million billed so far this fiscal year, 153,105 million correspond to sales of iPhones (54%), and the rest come, in this order, from services (50,148 million), technology for clothing and the home (29,582 million), Mac computers (26,012 million) and iPad tablets (23,610 million).

Especially significant is the revenue from services, 28% more year-on-year, since this segment is the company's great bet for the future, and in recent years it has launched a multitude of subscription platforms in sectors as diverse as television entertainment, video games, the press and music.

“We continue to advance in our efforts to instill in our products all those values ​​that define us.

We inspire a new generation of developers to learn to code, we are approaching our environmental goal for 2030 and we are building a more equitable future, "said Apple CEO Tim Cook in introducing the accounts.

Microsoft annual results

Microsoft obtained a net profit of 61,271 million dollars at the end of its fiscal year, which ended last June, which represents an increase of 38.4% compared to the result recorded by the Redmond giant in the previous year. .

Microsoft's revenue for the fiscal year as a whole totaled a record 168,088 million dollars (142,338 million euros), 17.5% more than a year before, including a growth of 16.2%, the area of ​​productivity, which includes Office and LinkedIn sales, up to $ 53,915 million (€ 45,655 million).

In the case of Microsoft's cloud business, annual turnover increased 24.2% to $ 60.08 billion, while the personal computing division, which includes Windows, Bing or the Xbox console, increased its sales by 12%. sales, up to 54,093 million dollars.

Between April and June, the fourth quarter of its fiscal year, Microsoft obtained a net profit of 16,458 million dollars (13,937 million euros), which implies an improvement of 46.9% compared to its result in the same period of 2020, while its turnover increased by 21.3%, to 46,152 million dollars.

Facebook: more ads in the pandemic

For its part, Facebook's total revenue in the second quarter, ended June 30, increased 56% to 29,077 million, while profits were 10,394 million, 101% more.

The social network, like its peers, has seen an increased demand for digital ads as the pandemic led consumers to electronic shopping, forcing several companies to create

online

stores and markets

as quickly as possible using social networks. .