5 Biggest Tech Companies Took 18% More Revenue Last Quarter: WSJ

Earlier in October, a house antitrust investigation concluded that the big tech companies are getting dominant every year — stamping out rivals and stifling innovation.

Though the executives rebuked the claims, these companies' latest earnings show they made significant gains as the pandemic altered consumer behavior and fueled demand, Wall Street Journal reports.

Together, five of the biggest tech companies by value — Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, Facebook, and Microsoft Corp MSFT, took 18% more revenue in their last quarter — WSJ.

Amazon.com Inc. AMZN reported 37% year-over-year revenue growth in the third quarter, with profits tripling YoY to $6.3 billion.

CEO Jeff Bezos expects a stronger fourth-quarter as more customers are shopping early for their holiday gifts. In October, the company's Prime Day event saw a 60% YoY growth in sales by small and medium businesses.

The antitrust committee had alleged that Amazon describes third-party sellers as 'partners,' but sees them as internal competition behind closed doors. It also alleged that Amazon enjoys a monopoly, and its market share in online retail is closer to 50%. Amazon had said that large companies are not dominant by definition.

Facebook Inc FB reported third-quarter revenue growth of 21.6% YoY to $21.47 billion and saw its profits jump 29% YoY to $7.85 billion. The company's advertising revenue hiked 22% YoY to $21.2 billion, despite expectations of a drop in organic revenue due to an advertising boycott.

The antitrust report in October had alleged that Facebook has a dominant position in both online advertising and social networking.

Google parent Alphabet Inc GOOG GOOGL reported third-quarter revenue growth of 14% YoY to $46.17 billion and a 59% YoY jump in net profit to $11.25 billion. Revenue from google search-related advertising grew 6.5% YoY to $26.34 billion and Youtube ads rose 32.4% YoY to $5.04 billion.

The antitrust report accused Google of operating as an ecosystem of interlocking monopolies. It is worth noting that Google might face competition in the search business from Apple Inc AAPL soon.

Apple, the world's most valuable company, reported fourth-quarter revenue growth of 1% YoY to $64.69 billion after it pushed the launch of the latest iPhone 12 to the December quarter due to the pandemic. Q4 net income dipped 7.4% YoY to $12.7 billion.

The antitrust report alleged that Apple's monopoly over software distribution to iOS devices had harmed competition and reduced innovation. The company rebuked the claim, saying its practices were in-line with other app stores and gaming marketplaces.

Twitter Inc TWTR reported a 13.6% YoY growth in revenue to $936 million in the third quarter. However, its average daily active users grew only by a million, the smallest increase since 2017. The company said that election uncertainty might crimp ad spending, WSJ reports.

Twitter, Alphabet, and Facebook executives were questioned by U.S Senators on their handling of election content and free speech on Wednesday.