Two years after launching in the U.S., TikTok Shop has a reported $19 billion in quarterly sales, rivaling the sales performance of eBay, which still leads by about a billion dollars, according to third-part TikTok analytics tool EchoTik. After getting off to what seemed to be a rocky start, the fact that it took only 24 months for TikTok Shop to became competitive with the 30-year-old eBay is drawing notice. A TikTok representative said TikTok Shop’s live-stream shopping segments were up 72 percent year-over-year as of September, with sales up by 120 percent as of June. Live-stream shopping is only one aspect of TikTok Shop. Others include shoppable videos, a marketplace and creator storefronts.  Continue reading TikTok Shop Reports $19 Billion Sales Quarter, Rivaling eBay

Sony Group reported a strong quarter ending September 30, with its semiconductor unit reaching an operating profit of nearly $900 million, up almost 50 percent year-over-year as the company’s most profitable segment for the quarter. The music group was another bright spot, with sales up 21 percent to $3.51 billion, and operating income a healthy $749 million. Consumer electronics and gaming were softer sectors. But overall revenue of $20.14 billion far surpassed the expected $19.36 billion, prompting Sony to raise its forecast by 3 percent. The company also announced a repurchase plan for $648 million worth of stock. Continue reading Sony’s Latest Quarter Beats Estimates Led by Music, Imaging

Apple posted quarterly revenue of $94 billion, up 10 percent year-over-year, the largest quarterly growth spurt for the tech giant since December 2021. Net profit of $23.4 billion was a new record for the June quarter and up nearly 9 percent from the prior year. Sales of Apple’s iPhones totaled $44.6 billion for the quarter, a 13 percent increase year-over-year, with growth posted across “every geographic segment” and a record number of upgrades as customers raced to beat the impact of anticipated tariffs, according to the company. The results for Apple’s fiscal Q3 exceeded Wall Street estimates. Continue reading iPhone Sales Jump 10 Percent, Driving Apple to Record Profit

Amazon Q2 earnings outperformed analyst expectations, but a strong performance wasn’t enough to quell market fears in light of a gloomy forecast and Amazon Web Services growth seen as anemic, at +17.5 percent, which was slower than the expansion of its competitors Microsoft Azure (+39 percent) and Google Cloud (+32 percent). Amazon’s Q2 profit was $18.2 billion, up nearly 30 percent on revenue of $167.7 billion, a 13 percent gain year-over-year. Advertising income of $15.7 billion was almost $1 billion more than StreetAccount’s estimate of $14.9 billion. But for the current quarter, Amazon estimated operating income between $15.5 billion and $20.5 billion. Continue reading Amazon Profit Is Up 30 Percent, but Forecast Spooks Market

Oracle and OpenAI have confirmed the $30 billion per year AI data center contract reported earlier this month. The deal will provide OpenAI’s Stargate project with 4.5 gigawatts of additional data center capacity in the U.S. Oracle is a Stargate partner and has been working in partnership with OpenAI on the Stargate I site, coming online in Abilene, Texas. “This additional partnership with Oracle will bring us to over 5 gigawatts of Stargate AI data center capacity under development, which will run over 2 million chips,” OpenAI explains. The “investment will create new jobs, accelerate America’s reindustrialization, and help advance U.S. AI leadership.” Continue reading OpenAI and Oracle Confirm $30B Annual Data Center Contract

Nvidia is joining forces with Foxconn to build Taiwan’s first supercomputer. Foxconn, the world’s largest contract manufacturer of electronics, will implement the system through its subsidiary Big Innovation Company, which specializes in advanced tech solutions for enterprise. The supercomputer will leverage 10,000 Nvidia Blackwell GPUs, providing “orders-of-magnitude faster performance, compared with previous-generation systems,” said Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang in his Computex keynote. Huang also announced a new initiative that will let companies build semi-custom chips and talked-up desktop supercomputers in the works with Acer and Asus. Continue reading Nvidia, Foxconn Plan to Build an AI Supercomputer in Taiwan

Apple reported revenue increased 5 percent to $95 billion in Q1, beating Wall Street analysts’ expectations. Net income was up by nearly 5 percent, to $24.8 billion, from the January-to-March period in 2024, and iPhone sales increased by 2 percent, helped by demand for the more affordably priced 16e model. Services were particularly strong, with $26.6 billion in revenue for the quarter, up from $23.9 billion year-over-year, also beating analysts’ expectations. But it isn’t exactly business as usual. CEO Tim Cook said tariffs will increase costs by $900 million in the June quarter. Continue reading Apple Quarter Beats Expectations, But Tariff Concerns Loom

Amazon’s growth contracted in Q1, with revenue up 9 percent compared to 13 percent a year ago. That was good enough to outperform Wall Street forecasts, with overall sales increasing to $155.7 billion, compared with $143.3 billion in Q1 2024. In addition, Amazon Web Services sales grew by nearly 17 percent to $29.3 billion. Yet Amazon share price fell by up to 4.3 percent after hours, a reflection of a Q2 forecast the company says could be affected by newly imposed tariffs. “Obviously, none of us know exactly where tariffs will settle, or when,” Amazon CEO Andy Jassy told analysts on the Q1 earnings call. Continue reading Amazon Reports Strong Quarter, Braces for Impact of Tariffs

Meta Platforms revenue for Q1 was $42.3 billion, up 16 percent year-over-year and besting Wall Street estimates of $41.3 billion. Profits were up 35 percent to $16.6 billion, hurtling past analyst estimates of $13.6 billion. Advertising, up nearly 15 percent for the quarter compared to last year, comfortably passed $41 billion, driving the revenue performance. Meta began Q2 by launching its anticipated standalone Meta AI app. Built with natively multimodal Llama 4 models, the company is positioning the Meta AI app as “a personal AI designed around voice conversations,” according to CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Continue reading Meta Touts 35 Percent Q1 Profit Jump, ‘Personalized’ AI App

IBM plans to invest $150 billion over the next five years to fuel the U.S. economy. Included in the spending plan is more than $30 billion devoted to research and development for mainframe and quantum computers to be manufactured in the U.S. The announcement comes as President Trump is pressing global companies to invest more here, including with trade tariffs that threaten to make products manufactured overseas more expensive to sell at home. IBM CEO Arvind Krishna says the company has “been focused on American jobs and manufacturing since our founding 114 years ago.” Continue reading IBM Unveils 5-Year Plan for $150B in Manufacturing and R&D

Alphabet revenue was $90.2 billion in Q1, a 12 percent increase year-over-year that reflects “robust momentum” across Google Search and YouTube ads and Google Cloud, each delivering double-digit growth rates. Google Cloud was up 28 percent to $12.3 billion in divisions including AI infrastructure and generative AI solutions. Net profit surged 46 percent to $34.5 billion while operating income grew 20 percent to $30.6 billion. Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said the quarter was “super exciting” due to breakthroughs in performance by Gemini 2.5, calling it “our most intelligent AI” and a strong foundation “for future innovation.” Continue reading Alphabet Profit Is Up 46 Percent, Driven by AI and Advertising

ByteDance is testing TikTok for Artists, a free feature performers can use to manage music and mesh with fans. Aimed at generating exposure and building engagement, the feature also provides analytics — from fan insights to performance metrics and trend reports. The Artists platform is now being tested in Australia, Indonesia, Japan, Korea and New Zealand. Though the U.S. deadline for ByteDance to remove TikTok from Chinese control was extended by 75 days (a second time) from April 5 to June 19, the social media app’s future here is more uncertain than ever. Continue reading ByteDance Tests TikTok for Artists with Its U.S. Fate in Limbo

Google’s YouTube is rolling out new tools to make YouTube Shorts even more competitive with social-video platform TikTok. The new publishing suite includes an improved video editor, a tool for generating AI stickers, enhanced templates, and a feature that can synchronize content to a musical beat. YouTube says the upgraded editing feature will provide users with the ability to make more precise adjustments, fine-tuning the timing of each clip. Users can “move or remove clips to create a rough version, add music or timed text, and preview their Short to make sure it tells the story the way they want it to,” according to YouTube. Continue reading YouTube Shorts Updates Video Tools to Compete with TikTok

Taiwan semiconductor firm TSMC, the world’s largest chipmaker, has vowed to add another $100 billion to its existing $65 billion plan to expand its U.S. manufacturing base. The total allocation — $165 billion over the next four years — sees TSMC further building out its advanced semiconductor fabrication complex in Phoenix, Arizona, which has been producing at volume since late 2024. The expansion plays a key role in strengthening the U.S. computer ecosystem by increasing U.S. production of advanced semiconductors, TSMC says, adding that it will “complete the domestic AI supply chain” with advanced packaging investments. Continue reading TSMC Will Boost Its Factory Build-Out in U.S. by $100 Billion

Apple unveiled a big “made in the USA” initiative, with plans to spend more than $500 billion on U.S. factories over the next four years. The company will upgrade operations in California, Arizona, Nevada, Washington, Oregon, Iowa, Michigan, North Carolina and Texas, adding a new server facility in Houston. The move comes as U.S. international relations enter a period of flux. Apple’s plans include opening “a manufacturing academy” and accelerated investments in educating stateside workers in AI and silicon engineering. “We are bullish on the future of American innovation, and we’re proud to build on our long-standing U.S. investments,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said. Continue reading Apple Will Invest $500B in U.S. Manufacturing and Education