{"id":178,"date":"2020-05-07T12:34:41","date_gmt":"2020-05-07T16:34:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/redmonk.com\/kfitzpatrick\/?p=178"},"modified":"2020-05-07T12:35:29","modified_gmt":"2020-05-07T16:35:29","slug":"may-2020-earnings-reports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/redmonk.com\/kfitzpatrick\/2020\/05\/07\/may-2020-earnings-reports\/","title":{"rendered":"RedMonk SlackChat: A May 2020 Look at Earnings Reports and the Impacts of COVID-19"},"content":{"rendered":"

kelly <\/b>(Kelly Fitzpatrick<\/a>): It\u2019s the beginning of May, and a slew of companies have released earnings reports for the quarter ending March 31, 2020. The purpose of this chat is to discuss any points of interest that have emerged from these reports against other industry news. In particular, we are looking at what this all might mean when read amidst the larger context of the extensive and rapid changes the industry (and world) has seen as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

monkchips <\/b>(James Governor<\/a>): First off, we’d like to point out that times are very hard for a lot of folks, but we do need to continue to cover the industry as best we can. As such covering financials and company impacts is still very much part of RedMonk’s remit.<\/p>\n

There is nothing normal about the current situation, but we’re still here to help people understand technology trends and directions.<\/p>\n

kelly:<\/b> Well said, James. And within that context, our first question: What are your general impressions of the latest earning reports from the major public cloud vendors (Amazon Web Services (AWS)\/parent company Amazon<\/a>; Google Cloud\/parent company Alphabet\/Google<\/a>, and Azure\/parent company Microsoft<\/a>)? Do you have any key takeaways?<\/p>\n

sogrady <\/b>(Stephen O\u2019Grady<\/a>): Key takeaways for me are that tech is, at least for now, avoiding the nose dives we\u2019ve seen from other sectors of the economy. The results are anemic in certain cases – Apple\u2019s modest returns being one example – but as the world has been left with no other option in many cases but to go digital, the companies that supply that digital infrastructure are seeing that influx.<\/p>\n

Per the Financial Times<\/a> :<\/p>\n

First, there is more dispersion between winners and losers. Compare Microsoft\u2019s statement that Covid-19 had a \u201cminimal net impact\u201d on its overall quarterly revenues with retailer J Crew filing for bankruptcy protection.<\/p>\n

That is just one example of the contrast between mainly digital companies, including social media giant Facebook and streaming services Netflix, with those operating primarily in physical spaces, including carmaker Ford and fast-food group McDonald\u2019s.<\/p>\n

rachel<\/b> (Rachel Stephens<\/a>): Alphabet\u2019s CFO described this as \u201cthe tale of two quarters.\u201d For Google that was specifically a reference to the mid-quarter change in their ad revenue, but it feels applicable to all the cloud providers. Everyone is seeing COVID-19 impacts to varying degrees.<\/p>\n

monkchips: <\/b>For context, I think it’s important to point out these are not normal times. This tweet that did the rounds sums things up very well.<\/p>\n

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Who led the digital transformation in your company? pic.twitter.com\/45ybMCW0Xu<\/a><\/p>\n

— Serge van Ginderachter (@svg) March 30, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n