Tesla recorded a massive 998% annual increase in net profit in the second quarter of 2021. Profits hit $1.14bn, despite headwinds like the pandemic, computer chip shortages and supply chain challenges. The company also produced and delivered more than 200,000 vehicles for the first time.
Shares in UK bank Barclays rose on Wednesday (28 Jul) as it announced a £500m share buyback and a half-year dividend of 2p a share, after final restrictions on shareholder distributions were recently lifted by the Bank of England.
The bank reported strong second quarter earnings figures, including pre-tax profits of £2.6bn, as it benefited from an improving economic outlook. This allowed it to release around £1bn that it had set aside to cover potential defaults related to the pandemic, although it warned “the outlook remains uncertain and subject to change” depending on the evolution of the pandemic.
However, it added that “our profitability, strong capital position and balance sheet have enabled us to increase capital distributions to shareholders”, making it the first major UK bank to announce a shareholder payout.
This means that after a dry 2020, when the Bank of England introduced restrictions on dividends, Barclays’ shareholders could be in line for distributions estimated to reach £800m.
Apple, Microsoft and Alphabet all reported record-breaking quarterly results for sales and profits in the second quarter of the year, fuelled by the global pandemic.
Apple recorded profits of $21.7bn, following strong sales of its latest iPhone 12 model and growth in its services business.
Microsoft beat expectations with revenues of more than $46bn and net income of $16.5bn, driven by the strength of its Microsoft Cloud solution.
Alphabet, the parent company of Google, recorded revenues of $61.9bn in the quarter and net income of $18.5bn, which it said reflected “elevated consumer online activity and broad-based strength in advertiser spend”. It added there was a “rising tide of online activity” across the globe and its investments in AI and Google Cloud helped to “drive significant improvements in everyone’s digital experience.”
