Amazon.com Inc.’s second-quarter revenue jumped 51 percent, helped by higher merchandise sales, while its profit fell as the online retailer’s operating expenses rose. The results, issued Tuesday, beat analyst expectations. For the quarter that ended June 30, revenue rose to $9.91 billion from $6.57 billion last year. For the quarter that ended June 30, Amazon said late Tuesday it earned $191 million, or 41 cents per share, compared with $207 million, or 45 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter. Analysts polled by FactSet were expecting a profit of 34 cents per share on $9.37 billion in revenue.
Ford earnings drop on investment in Asia
Ford’s plans to grow in Asia took a toll on its second- quarter profit, with higher costs to design and sell new cars offsetting rising sales. The company earned $2.4 billion, or 59 cents per share, down 8 percent from $2.6 billion, or 61 cents per share, a year earlier. Ford warned last month that its profit could slip, citing investments. Worldwide sales rose 7 percent, but the company spent $400 million more than it did last year to engineer and advertise new vehicles. In Asia, it plowed money into new cars and trucks. The result was a pretax profit of just $1 million, down $112 million from 2010. Without one-time items, Ford would have earned $2.9 billion, or 65 cents per share, beating analysts’ forecast of 60 cents per share.
Home buyers push up prices in big cities
Home prices in major U.S. cities rose in May for the second straight month, propped up by a flurry of spring buyers. But after adjusting for seasonal factors, prices fell in a majority of markets. The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller home-price index released Tuesday showed that prices rose in 16 of the 20 cities tracked. The May data is the latest available. Separately, the Commerce Department said fewer people bought new homes in June from May. Sales fell 1 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 312,000. That’s less than half the 700,000 that economists say is typical in healthy markets.
Paccar second-quarter profit up, misses target
Paccar Inc., which makes Peterbilt and Kenworth trucks, said Tuesday its second-quarter profit more than doubled on stronger sales. But despite the better-than-expected sales, the Bellevue-based company’s profit fell short of Wall Street predictions. Paccar posted a second-quarter profit of $239.7 million, or 65 cents share, up from $99.6 million, or 27 cents share, in the same quarter last year. Sales and financial services revenue rose a combined 61 percent to $3.96 billion from $2.46 billion a year ago. Paccar said strong worldwide truck demand and a jump in truck build rates have made it tough for some of its suppliers to meet demand. As a result, the company said it’s working closely with its suppliers to help them increase their production capacity.
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