Morning Report: Here Is How Tech’s Biggest Players Fared In Q2

Morning Report: Here are the results from the top of the market that will help you understand today’s market sentiment. 

Let’s take a quick run through the Big 5’s earnings reports this morning. To help you get the information you need, we’ll do this in summary.

Briefly, the Big 5 are a group of US-based tech companies that are, domestically, the most valuable. Those companies are, in an order I just made up, Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, Microsoft, and Facebook. Together, the Big 5 recently crossed the $3 trillion aggregate market cap benchmark.

What makes the companies worth so much? Let’s find out.

• Apple. Revenue was $45.4 billion, ahead of expectations of $44.89 billion. Earnings per share were $1.67, ahead of expectations of $1.57 per share. The company sold 41 million iPhones, largely meeting estimates. Shares rose.
• Amazon. Revenue was $37.96 billion, ahead of expectations of $37.18 billion. Earnings per share were $0.40, far below expectations of $1.42 per share. The company would have been in even worse shape if not for its operationally-profitable AWS cloud computing unit.
• Alphabet. Revenue was $26.01 billion, ahead of expectations of $25.65 billion. Earnings per share were $5.01, ahead of expectations of $4.49. The company’s Other Bets projects also showed improving margins.
• Microsoft. Revenue was $24.7 billion (non-GAAP), ahead of expectations of $24.3 billion. Earnings per share were $0.83 (GAAP), ahead of expectations of $0.71 per share (GAAP). The company’s cloud results were critical to its beat.
• Facebook. Revenue was $9.32 billion, ahead of expectations of $9.2 billion. Earnings per share were $1.32, ahead of expectations of $1.13. The firm’s growth continues to decelerate as expected, but it’s happening more slowly than analysts expect

Now you are all caught up. Feel better? No? Perhaps it’s time for the weekend!

From the Crunchbase Daily:

GrubHub Buys Yelp’s Eat24 for $288M

• Two food ordering platforms are merging into one. GrubHub has announcedthat it is acquiring Eat24 from Yelp for $288 million. The companies also agreed to a five-year partnership in which Yelp will integrate GrubHub ordering into its restaurant listings.

Big startup M&A deals have stalled

• Public markets are riding high, and tech acquirers are flush with cash. However, it’s been a very dull year for large acquisitions of private technology companies, with no big unicorn M&A deals since January, according to a Crunchbase News analysis. Industry observers say valuation is a concern, but buyers may also be waiting on proposed U.S. tax law changes.

Auris Surgical Robotics closes on $280M

• Auris Surgical Robotics, a Silicon Valley-based developer of robotics technology for minimally invasive surgery, has raised $280 million in a Series D funding round led by Coatue Management. Ten-year-old Auris is led by Frederic Moll, a co-founder of Intuitive Surgical, which is now a $35 billion company.