Media

6 Most Important Things in Business Today

Douglas A. McIntyre

Published: August 2, 2017 5:13 am

Last Updated: March 13, 2020 3:58 pm

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) crushed earnings estimates and its share price rose to an all-time high after hours. Strong iPhone sales were aided by particularly good results for Macs and iPads. Profits moved up 12% from the same period last year to $8.72 billion as the company sold over 41 million iPhones.

Sprint Corp. (NYSE: S) may be close to a deal with either T-Mobile US Inc. (NASDAQ: TMUS) or Charter Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: CHTR). After posting a rare profit last quarter, the company needs to pick a strategy of marriage or going it alone.

According to the Wall Street Journal, medical tech start-up Theranos is low on cash. The paper reports:

A settlement between Theranos Inc. and Walgreens WBA 0.57% drugstore chain leaves the blood-testing lab firm with little money left in its coffers.

Theranos said Tuesday it settled a lawsuit by the Walgreen Co. unit of Walgreens Boots Alliance that claimed the blood-testing firm breached their contract and misled the drugstore chain about its capabilities.

Neither Theranos nor Walgreens would disclose terms of the settlement, though people familiar with the matter said the amount was more than $25 million. The Wall Street Journal reported in June that a tentative settlement had been reached, calling for Theranos to pay Walgreens less than $30 million.

The shares of theater chain AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. (NYSE: AMC) dropped 26% as it badly missed earnings. Revenue of $1.2 billion was below estimates. The results are a sign that movie-going may have hit a wall.

Car sales plunged in July as sales of sport utility vehicles and pickups, which have carried the industry, faltered. This year could be the first down year for year-over-year car sales since 2009.

Most U.S. stock indexes reached all-time highs. Among the reasons for the rise are better than expected corporate earnings, strong second-quarter gross domestic product figures, low energy prices, and a belief that the Federal Reserve will raise rates more slowly than expected.