Internet, Quarterly Earnings | featured news

Groupon’s quarterly loss narrowed as the online-coupon service cut marketing costs but revenue growth continued to slow. Its shares tumbled after hours.

Shares in AOL have jumped 14% after the US internet firm reported a sharp rise in advertising revenues. Advertising sales jumped 7% to $340m (£212m), boosting net profit for the third quarter to $20.8m, compared with a loss of $2.6m a year ago.

Cable giant Comcast Corp., the nation's largest provider of TV and high-speed Internet services, more than doubled its net income in the third quarter, helped by fewer cancelations of video service than expected and by breaking even on the expensive-to-produce London Olympics.

Facebook lost $59 million in the third quarter, but the newly publicly traded social networking site saw its shares soar on Wall Street early Wednesday. Facebook shares gained $4.35, or 22%, to $23.85 in early trading, after the company reported gains from mobile advertising.

Facebook reported better than expected third quarter earnings Tuesday, giving investors hope that the company might find positive momentum. In after hours trading, Facebook stock is up 67 cents, or 3.4%, to $20.16.

Google Inc said its financial printer RR Donnelley filed a draft of its third quarter earnings statement without authorization on Thursday morning.

Facebook‘s first quarterly report is inspiring few new friends. The social network swung to a loss in the most recent period, casting fresh doubts on the company’s ability to monetize its giant user base. The Menlo Park, Calif.-based company posted a $157 million, 8 cents a shares, loss in the quarter, down from a $240 million profit. Excluding hefty stock compensation charges, Facebook earned $295 million, 12 cents a share. That meets the Wall Street forecast.

The company reported net income of $7 million, or 1 cent a share, on sales of $12.8 billion. It was less profit than analysts had estimated, but the revenue was in line with forecasts.

The New York Times Company reported a second-quarter loss on Thursday because of a write-down in the value of About.com and continuing declines in print and digital advertising revenue.

Yahoo reported its earnings Tuesday, posting a slight revenue decline to $1.22 billion and setting the stage for a new chapter in the company’s history. The company has been busy in the past quarter, settling a patent spat with Facebook, making a deal with Alibaba, launching a new Axis browser in a mobile push, and completely changing the makeup of its board.