From the United States and Asia arrive quarterly in chiaroscuro. In the July-September period, Ford reported profit of $1,9 billion, up sharply from the $1,1 billion posted in the third quarter of 2014. Revenues rose year-on-year by $3,2 billion to $38,1 billion. In the nine months, the profit margin in North America was 9,9%. However, the improvement in profit, driven by record results in the USA and Canada, did not meet Wall Street's expectations, due to a heavier-than-expected tax system. After taxes and without special items, EPS stands at 45 cents per share, a penny below the consensus. Ford then confirmed the 2015 targets: gross profit between 8,5 and 9,5 billion and profit margin in North America between 8,5 and 9,5%.
Instead, it beats the estimates Pfizer, which ended the third quarter with a net profit of $2,13 billion, down 20% from the same period in 2014, while earnings per share fell 19%, to $0,34. However, the U.S. pharmaceutical giant's adjusted earnings rose 2 percent to $3,728 billion, and adjusted earnings per share rose to $0,60 from $0,57. Revenue fell 2% to $12,087 billion. Third-quarter results came in better than expectations, and the company now targets annualized revenues of $47,5 billion to $48,5 billion and net earnings per share of $2,16 to $2,20, versus earlier forecasts by $46,5-47,5 billion in revenues and $2,04-2,10 in net earnings per share.
Finally, Alibaba it closed the fiscal second quarter with profits of $3,57 billion on gains of $2,93 billion from the revaluation of a stake in Alibaba's Health Information Technology division. The Chinese e-commerce giant reported profits of 3,03 billion yuan (476,9 million at current exchange rates) last year. Excluding one-off items, profit came in below $762 million analyst expectations. Revenue, on the other hand, increased by 32% to $3,49 billion, more than the $3,35 billion expected by the consensus. Gross volume, a measure of sales on the platform, grew 28%, while the monetization rate, which measures earnings from sales on the platform, was 2,42%, versus 2,33 in Q2,3 and XNUMX .XNUMX% last year.
