NEWS20

Google Parent Pushes Apple Off Top Slot

Summary:

Google's parent firm is set to overtake Apple as the world's most valuable company by market value after its latest revenues smashed expectations. Alphabet's share price rose almost 5% in after-hours trading following the release of its fourth quarter and annual results which, if repeated when the markets reopen for trading on Tuesday, should easily take it to the top of the corporate pile. The rise would put Alphabet's value at $549bn (£382bn) compared to Apple's market capitalisation of about $534bn (£371bn).

FACTS:

• Profits for the three months to the end of December came in at $4.9bn - a rise of 5% on the same period last year.
• That was despite its raft of experiments, or 'moonshots', collectively racking up operating losses of $1.2bn in the quarter.

WhatsApp Passes One Billion Users Milestone

SUMMARY:

Messaging application WhatsApp is being used by one billion people, the company behind it has said. The California-based firm announced the milestone just six years after it was founded by ex-Yahoo! employees Brian Acton and Jan Koum. The app's popularity has stemmed from its allowing groups of people to stay in touch simultaneously without having to enter contact details. As well as text messages, users can also share photos, videos and other media. It also offers a similar secure messaging service to the BlackBerry and has become more popular as the Canadian phone maker has seen its handsets fall in popularity compared to those made by other smart phone makers.

FACTS:

• WhatsApp is being used by one billion people
• More than half of its subscribers have been added in the last 21 months, according to Forbes.
• WhatsApp was bought by Facebook in February 2014 for $19bn (£12bn)