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Facebook posted strong financial numbers for its fourth quarter Wednesday, beating on earnings and revenue and sending shares up more than 12 percent in extended trading. Active user metrics continue to rise, though slowly. It proved to be a strong financial quarter for Facebook, despite growing public outrage over the company’s privacy practices. Earnings per share jumped 65 percent from the year-ago period. Net income totaled $6.88 billion, a record profit for the company and an increase of 61 percent from the year-ago quarter.
McDonald’s Corp has lost its rights to the trademark “Big Mac” in a landmark European Union (EU) case ruling in favor of Ireland-based fast-food chain Supermac’s, according to a decision by European regulators. The judgment revoked McDonald’s registration of the trademark, saying the world’s largest fast-food chain had not proven genuine use of it over the five years prior to the case being lodged in 2017. The ruling allows other companies as well as McDonald’s to use the Big Mac name in the EU.
Lyft beat rival Uber in filing for an initial public offering (IPO) on Thursday looking to bring stability to its uncertain future in the advancement of self-driving cars. Lyft did not specify the number of shares to be sold or the price range. Lyft could go public as soon as the first quarter of 2019.
Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou was arrested on December 1st and faces extradition to the US. The daughter of the founder is being investigated in connection with possible violations of sanctions against Iran by Huawei. The Chinese embassy in Canada protested her Wanzhou’s arrest. Huawei said it has little information about the charges.
After General Motors announced their decision to make major job cuts and halt production in the US and Canada, President Trump commented he is ‘looking at cutting all GM subsidies.’ Following Trump’s statement, GM’s shares dropped more than 3% on Tuesday. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and President Trump discussed the cuts during a phone call.
General Motors said Monday it plans to effectively halt production at a number of plants in the U.S. and Canada next year and cut more than 14,000 jobs in a massive restructuring that will cost up to $3.8 billion. In response, the United Auto Workers vowed to use “every legal, contractual and collective bargaining avenue” to fight the changes. U.S. President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also criticized the automaker’s decision.
The Chairman of Nissan Carlos Ghosn was arrested in Japan after an internal investigation revealed ‘significant acts of misconduct’ over a period of many years. Ghosn was fired as Nissan Chairman on Monday for under-reporting his income to Japan authorities. Nissan board director Greg Kelly was also accused of misconduct and wrongdoing.
Facebook announced on Thursday that it ended its relationship with Washington-based consulting firm Definers Public Affairs after it was revealed the firm spread disparaging information about Facebook critics and competitors. Facebook also announced the creation of an independent content moderating body. Uber lost more than $1 billion in its last quarter after decreased bookings.
IBM will acquire open software company Red Hat in a deal worth $34 billion as announced on Sunday. The enterprise software maker will now be a unit of IBM’s Hybrid Cloud division. Red Hat CEO Jim Whitehurst will join IBM’s senior management team. This is IBM’s largest deal and the third largest deal in US tech history.
Following guidance from Wall Street banks, Uber could target a valuation of $120 billion for next year. The IPO would nearly double Uber’s recent valuation of $70 billion. Netflix exceeded earnings estimates in the latest quarterly report published on Tuesday. The company projects adding 9.4 million net subscribers in the fourth quarter.