Apple, the iPhone maker, announced its second-quarter sales and earnings figures, beating analysts' estimates. But it was a close call. The company's earnings per share figures were just 1% above analysts' forecast, while sales fell 4% year-on-year. It blamed a significant drop in iPhone sales in China for the stunted result. The rumour-mil has also been working overtime as punters speculate that Tim Cook, the company's boss, will soon retire. After taking over from an ailing Steve Jobs, he's held the top job for 13 years.
The world's largest online retailer, Amazon, also announced earnings. The company's top line grew 12.5% last year, while earnings per share were 19% higher than analysts had predicted. Amazon's boss, Andy Jassy, said the artificial intelligence boom was helping Amazon's Web Servers (AWS) business. AWS now pulls in $100bn of revenue a year.
In the first quarter, Saudi Arabian oil giant Aramco beat estimates, too. The company pumped 12.8m barrels of the black stuff out …