Analyst Roundtable: Apple and Facebook Earnings, YP Goes Cross-Device
Apple has taken the crown for most profitable company in history. BIA/Kelsey Sr. Dir. of Industry Strategy & Insight Abid Chaudhry reminds us that of the 20 most profitable quarters of all time, fifteen were oil companies… the remaining five were all Apple.
Its monster Q1 was the lead off topic in an analyst roundtable today (video below). Apple’s current product picture was characterized by Chaudhry as strong growth potential in Asia where different buying patterns exist. He’s meanwhile bullish on the impending Apple Watch.
SVP and Sr. Analyst Charles Laughlin discussed YP’s latest announcement: the launch of cross-device ad targeting. This is increasingly critical in a multi-device world, and importantly brings the capability –previously celebrated by brand advertisers — down market to YP’s SMB base.
Lastly, I discussed Facebook’s mobile positioning as a preview to its Q4 earnings. The big story was its share of ad revenues that are mobile (it ended up announcing 69 percent). As its usage migrates to mobile, this revenue share is key for it to maintain confidence in public markets.
The full roundtable is below and stay tuned for another roundtable next week that will preview the research reports we are each working on in respective analyst coverage areas.
