American Tech Giants' Q4 2023 Profits

• Apple: $34 billion in Q4 2023, largely due to increased iPhone sales.
• Total revenues rose by 2% to $119.6 billion, marking the first quarter of revenue growth.
• Sales in China fell by about 13%.
• Services, Mac devices, and iPad divisions did not perform well, leading to a 1.6% stock price drop.
• Apple's services division faces legal issues and potential antitrust lawsuits.
• Meta: $14 billion in Q4 2023, exceeding analysts' expectations.
• Amazon: 14% increase in revenue and $10.62 billion profits.
• Amazon's cloud services division saw a 13% increase in sales.

Apple's Success Despite Challenges

 Apple, the big American technology company, had an amazing year! They made a whopping $34 billion in profits in the last quarter of 2023. How did they do it? Well, a big part of it was because people bought a lot of iPhones. The sales went up by 6% and reached $69.7 billion in that period. Overall, Apple's total revenues went up by 2% to $119.6 billion. This is great news because it's the first time in four quarters that their revenues went up instead of down.

But it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows for Apple. Their sales in China, which includes Taiwan and Hong Kong, actually went down by about 13%. Even though iPhone sales were good, the company didn't do as well with their services, Mac devices, and iPad divisions. Because of this, the stock price went down by 1.6% after the regular trading hours. But don't worry, Apple still made a lot of money. Their total profits went up by 13% to $33.9 billion.

The CEO of Apple said that the reason for their revenue growth was the sales of iPhones. He also mentioned that their services sector had record revenues. However, some people are worried that Apple might lose its momentum, especially since Microsoft recently became the most valuable American company.

There are also some challenges for Apple's services division. They are facing legal problems and might have to deal with antitrust lawsuits. These lawsuits could affect their revenues. One of the lawsuits is about a deal they made with Google for the search engine on their devices. Because of all this, Apple is reviewing how they charge commissions in their App Store.

Meta's Surprising Profits

Now let's talk about Meta, the company that owns Facebook and Instagram. They made a lot of money too! In the last quarter of 2023, they had profits of $14 billion, which was even more than what analysts expected. Their revenue was $40.1 billion, and they have about 3.1 billion people using their social network every month. Because of this, their shares went up by more than 12% in the financial markets.

But it's not all good news for Meta. They are facing challenges when it comes to online safety. During a hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee, they were criticized for not doing enough to protect children from online exploitation. The CEO of Meta, Mark Zuckerberg, apologized for the experiences of the victims' families and said that they are working on making online safety better.

Amazon's Strong Performance

Last but not least, let's talk about Amazon. They had a great year too! In the last quarter, which includes the Christmas period, they made a 14% increase in revenue compared to the previous year. Their revenue reached a massive $170 billion, and their profits were about $10.62 billion. This was because their retail and cloud services did really well.

Amazon's cloud services division had a 13% increase in sales, reaching $24.2 billion. The CEO of Amazon, Andy Jassy, said that they had a record-breaking holiday shopping season and a strong finish to 2023. He also gave an optimistic forecast for the first quarter of 2024, saying that they expect sales between $138 billion and $143.5 billion.

Flexibility and Adaptability

All these financial reports show us how amazing these big American companies are. They can adapt and do well in a competitive market. It's impressive to see how much money they can make!

Source: American press