Company news in brief

Microsoft beats sales estimatesMicrosoft Corp beat Wall Street estimates for quarterly revenue and profit, powered by a slight uptick in growth in its flagship cloud computing business as the software maker continued to benefit from a global shift to working from home and online learning.The pandemic has accelerated a move already under way toward cloud-based computing, helping companies such as Microsoft, Amazon.com Inc's cloud unit and Alphabet Inc's Google Cloud. For Microsoft, it has also boosted demand for its Windows operating systems for laptops and its Xbox gaming services as families work, learn and play from home, leading to profit that was about 30% above expectations.The company's revenue rose 12% to US$37.2 billion in the quarter ended Sept. 30, beating analysts' estimates of US$35.72 billion.Net income rose to US$13.89 billion, or US$1.82 per share, from US$10.68 billion, or US$1.38 per share, a year earlier. Analysts had expected a profit of US$1.54 per share. – Nampa/ReutersCarlsberg raises outlookDanish brewer Carlsberg posted third-quarter underlying sales that beat expectations on Tuesday and raised its full-year earnings guidance thanks to strong sales in Russia and China.The world's third-biggest brewer, whose brands also include Kronenbourg, Baltika and Holsten, now expects 2020 operating profit, excluding the effects of any acquisitions, to decline by a mid-single-digit percentage, compared with previous guidance of a high-single-digit decline.Beer sales have suffered during the COVID-19 pandemic, but as some countries, including China, Carlsberg's biggest single market by volume, relaxed lockdowns over the summer, the company has seen a rebound enough to prompt it to raise its outlook last month.Still, as a result of new coronavirus restrictions following a recent spike in infections, sales at restaurants and bars "face an increasing level of pressure in the coming quarters", Carlsberg said.Carlsberg reported sales - excluding the effects of any acquisitions - between July and September of 17.3 billion Danish crowns (US$2.8 billion), compared with an average forecast of 16.9 billion from analysts polled by the company. – Nampa/ReutersAston Martin expands deal with MercAston Martin has expanded a deal with Diamler AG to access the German automaker's technology, including its hybrid and electric drive systems, in exchange for new shares as the struggling British luxury carmaker's new boss drives changes.The company will place 250 million new shares with new and existing institutional investors at 50 pence a share, said the 107-year car maker that hired Tobias Moers, former CEO of Mercedes-AMG, to become its boss from August.The new shares issued would increase the size of Mercedes-Benz's stake to no more than 20% by 2023 from the current 2.6% in several stages."We take another major step forward as our long-term partnership with Mercedes-Benz AG moves to another level with them becoming one of the Company's largest shareholders," said chairman Lawrence Stroll.The James Bond car maker, which has started deliveries of its first sport utility vehicle, the DBX, reported third-quarter adjusted core loss of 29 million pounds compared with a profit of 43 million pounds last year and revenue that nearly halved to 124 million pounds. – Nampa/ReutersSony seeing 'very considerable' PS5 demandSony Corp is seeing "very considerable" demand for its PlayStation 5 (PS5) console via pre-orders, its gaming chief said yesterday, as users rush to secure the next-generation device ahead of its Nov. 12 launch.The Japanese tech company pre-sold as many PS5 consoles in the first 12 hours in the United States as in the first 12 weeks for its predecessor PlayStation 4 device, Jim Ryan, CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, said in an interview.Sony, which went on to sell more than 100 million PS4 units, aims to persuade its user base to upgrade to its new device to play titles like "Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales" with enhanced graphics, sound and feedback via a new controller.The launch comes in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic that has boosted gaming companies' revenues but also disrupted retail networks, games development and manufacturing supply chains around the world.Sony's will continue to grow its studio capability organically Ryan said, adding that "where we can bolster our in-house capability with selective M&A that might be possible". – Nampa/ReutersChevron to lay off workers post-mergerChevron Corp will lay off about 25% of Noble Energy's employees who joined the oil major after its US$4.1 billion purchase of the smaller rival earlier this month, the company said.A collapse in crude oil prices has forced most oil and gas producers to drastically cut costs by laying off thousands of employees and cutting down on drilling. For many companies, consolidation with larger players at low or no premiums is becoming the only option to survive.The job cuts, which are on top of Chevron's plan to reduce 10%-15% of its own workforce, come after the company promised to lower its operating expenses by US$1 billion this year to cope with the downturn.Chevron's 10%-15% cuts would imply a reduction of between 4 500 and 6 750 jobs, while job cuts at Noble will reduce the total workforce by roughly another 570 positions.Most of the cuts will take place this year, Chevron said. – Nampa/Reuters

Company news in brief

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