Internet, Third Quarter 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.

Google Inc.’s stock plunged suddenly on Thursday afternoon after a contractor released the search company’s third-quarter earnings report early, by mistake. The stock fell $68.19, or 9 percent, to $687.30 before trading was halted to give investors a chance to digest the news. Google’s report had been slated for release after the close of regular trading Thursday.

Chinese search engine Baidu reports an 80% surge in profits for the third quarter, boosted by increased advertising sales.

Yahoo Inc has managed to meet low third quarter earnings targets, a rare feat for a company that has continually disappointed investors.

Google’s core business, search advertising, seems so far to have weathered the economic doldrums that have hurt other sites and publications relying on ads.