The New York Times made profits of over $50m in 2018

"Today’s news that The (failing?) New York Times reported net income of $55.2 million, after losses a year earlier — and that its digital business raked in $709 million — is just one indicator that some of the nation’s oldest media properties are finally crossing the bridge into the 21st century.
The Times managed to turn a profit while employing 1,600 journalists — an all-time high. Fourth-quarter digital advertising revenue increased 22.8 percent, while print advertising revenue decreased 10.2 percent. Digital advertising revenue was $103.4 million, or 53.9 percent of total advertising revenues, compared with $84.2 million, or 46.1 percent, in the fourth quarter of 2017, according to the company.
Those numbers, added to a newly robust Washington Post, a consistently profitable New Yorker and the erection of paywalls  at sites across the vast reaches of the internet, point to a very simple lesson learned — people will pay for quality reporting, videos, personal writing and exclusive information."

Source:  Techcrunch, 6th February 2019

Plus - 'More than 3.3m people pay for NYT digital services, inc news, crosswords and food apps'
"The New York Times Company generated more than $709 million in digital revenue last year, growing at a pace that suggests it will meet its stated goal of $800 million in digital sales by the end of 2020.
The results prompted the company to set another lofty target: “To grow our subscription business to more than 10 million subscriptions by 2025,” Mark Thompson, the chief executive, said in a statement announcing the company’s fourth-quarter financial results.
More than 3.3 million people pay for the company’s digital products, including its news, crossword and food apps, a 27 percent jump from 2017. The total number of paid subscriptions for digital and print reached 4.3 million, a high.
Online subscription revenue gained nearly 18 percent to reach $400 million in 2018, while digital advertising rose 8.6 percent, to $259 million. In the last three months of the year, digital subscription sales grew at a slower pace, about 9 percent, to $105 million. That slowdown was partly the result of an extra week in the fourth quarter of 2017 and partly the result of marketing efforts such as introductory discounts for online access. Those offers attract new readers who bring in less revenue — but the company expects many of them to become full subscribers over time."

Source:  NYT, 6th February 2019

If the iPhone were a company it would be the 25th biggest company in the S&P 500

"Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook has taken plenty of flack for running a company that is supposedly well past its glory days—and the iPhone smartphone franchise is sometimes dismissed as a spent force, losing ground to more innovative brands such as Android and Samsung. Well, here’s a little perspective for the Apple-haters.
The iPhone 5s and 5c sold a record 9 million units during the first weekend after its launch. Consider this: The brand’s sales haul over the last four reported quarters eclipses that of such companies as Home Depot, Microsoft, Target, Goldman Sachs, Amazon, PepsiCo, Comcast, Dell, Google, Pfizer, and UPS.
If this single product were its own company in the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index, IPhone Inc. would outsell 474 of those companies—ranking between Wells Fargo ($90.5 billion) and Marathon Petroleum ($84.9 billion). The iPhone’s $88.4 billion in annualized revenue tops 21 of the 30 component companies in the Dow Jones industrial average—it would be the ninth-biggest stock in the Dow 30:
One more fun fact: The majority of Apple sales comes from this one product—iPhone sales ($88.4 billion) are greater than the sum of Apple’s remaining products—including the iPad, Mac laptops and desktops, and iTunes—combined ($81 billion)."

Source:  BusinessWeek, 25th September 2013

Buzzfeed has 85 milion monthly visitors and is profitable

"BuzzFeed reached record traffic of 85 million unique visitors in August. We are 3X bigger than we were just one year ago, 8X bigger than we were two years ago, and we have served more web pages so far in 2013 than we have in the entire previous five year history of the company. By this time next year we should be one of the biggest sites on the web.
[...]
Part of our strategy is being a great business. This sounds strange as a strategic goal, isn’t that obvious? But we are in a market where many traditional publishers are run at a loss by wealthy families and many high profile venture-backed startups generate no or little revenue. Surprisingly it is contrarian that we are running BuzzFeed as a profitable business. Jon’s incredible success turning BuzzFeed into a great business in just three years has been the reason why we've been able to hire so many other talented new people. So don’t forget to thank Jon for your job if you joined BuzzFeed within the last 3 years. ;)"

Source:  Memo from Founder and CEO Jonah Peretti, 4th September 2013

Twitter made a profit of £17,000 in the UK in 2011

"Twitter, which is inching towards an $11bn (£6.8bn) US stock market flotation, posted profits of just £16,500 in the much-delayed maiden accounts for its UK subsidiary.
It is too early to tell, however, whether the microblogging website will adopt the kind of financial structures favoured by other internet firms such as Google, Amazon and eBay to lower their UK tax bills.
Very little is known about the finances of the San Francisco-based group, which is incorporated in the US tax and secrecy haven of Delaware. The business is estimated to have taken $288m in global advertising revenues last year, according to the research firm eMarketer – a figure that is projected to rise to $545m this year and $807m by 2014.
[...]
Abbreviated accounts, covering the first seven months of Twitter UK's life, were only signed off by Ali Rowghani, the US group's chief financial officer, last month. The three-person board consists of Rowghani, Twitter chief executive Dick Costolo and the site's group counsel Alex MacGillivray – all of whom are based in San Francisco. The UK firm's registered office is given as that of its solicitors, Baker & McKenzie."

Source:  Business Insider, 9th January 2013

Note - This was 2011; the UK operation only opened that year, so any profit is impressive

Apple & Amazon quarterly profits compared

Click to enlarge

Source:  Read Write Web, 10th September 2012

Groupon made a profit of $47m in Q2 2012

"Groupon, Inc. today announced financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2012.
Revenue increased 45% year-over-year to $568.3 million in the second quarter 2012, compared with $392.6 million in the second quarter 2011. Excluding the $32.4 million unfavorable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the quarter, revenue growth would have been 53% compared with second quarter 2011.
The second quarter 2012 was the first quarter that direct revenue, or the amount earned from the sale of products for which the Company is the merchant of record, was material to Groupon's overall performance. Accordingly, the Company's consolidated revenue presentation now includes third-party revenue, which is related to sales for which the Company acts as an agent for the merchant, as well as direct revenue. Third-party and direct revenues are recorded on a net and gross basis, respectively. Direct revenue was $65.4 million in the quarter, compared with $19.2 million in the first quarter 2012.
Gross billings, which reflects the total amount collected from customers, excluding any applicable taxes and net of estimated refunds, increased 38% year-over-year to $1.29 billion in the second quarter 2012, compared with $929.2 million in the second quarter 2011. Excluding the $75.1 million unfavorable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the quarter, gross billings growth would have been 47% compared with second quarter 2011.
Operating income was $46.5 million in the second quarter 2012, which included non-cash stock-based compensation and acquisition-related expenses of $25.4 million. This compares with a loss from operations of $101.0 million in the second quarter 2011, which included non-cash stock-based compensation expense of $38.7 million. Year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the quarter had a $0.2 million unfavorable impact on operating income."

Source:  Press release from Groupon, 13th August 2012

The newspaper site Mail Online is now profitable

"News that the Mail Online, the site that includes content from the Daily Mail, and Mail on Sunday newspapers, has become a profitable operation represents a milestone for an industry battling with digital transition.
Mail Online has long been the most popular newspaper site in the UK and, according to comScore figures, overtook the New York Times to become the leading online English-language newspaper at the start of the year.
The source said: "We always knew we would achieve a monthly operating profit this summer, with total revenues up more than 75% year on year, but to do it in June was very welcome."
The site’s move into the black comes despite the publisher investing in expanding its US operation and providing specific content for India.
The site's unparallelled growth in vistors over the past five years has been achieved by fewer than 30 people in the UK, a team of 20 in New York, and 10 in Los Angeles.
Last year, Mail Online’s revenues were £16m, and in May, Mail Online publisher, Martin Clarke, forecast digital revenues will hit £25m this year, £45m next year, and £100m by 2017.
Such growth is in stark contrast to the fortunes of DMGT’s print operations, which posted a 26% fall in operating profits at its national newspaper division in the six months to 1 April.
Print losses overshadowed the digital performance and Associated, the national newspaper division that is home to the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday, reported a 26% fall in operating profit to £34m and a 1% decline in revenues to £435m.
Mail Online attracted more than 5.6 million daily unique browsers in May, the last ABCs, and almost 92 million monthly uniques."

Source:  BrandRepublic, 23rd July 2012

Expedia increased their profits by $12m by deleting one field from their registration process

"The following test from Expedia shows how understanding how your users interact with your forms leads to conversion rate gains.
[In the Expedia experiment] they simply dropped the “Company name:” field and that increased their site PROFIT by $12 million a year according to Silicon.com.
Why was changing this field so critical?
Because that single field broke the flow of their entire UI:
When visitors see the “Company” field, they were confused.
Visitors thought Expedia meant they should put in their Bank name.
Users then put their’s Bank’s address into the billing fields.
This led to failed transactions, which led to abandons."
Source:  Conversion Voodoo blog, November 2011
Note - I can't the Silicon article they reference - broken link
But...  Here's an earlier link, suggesting that the story is originally from late 2010

The iPhone has generated an estimated $150bn for Apple in 5 years

"According to the latest research from Strategy Analytics, Apple has generated US$150 billion of cumulative revenues for its iPhone family in the first five years since launch in June 2007. A quarter of a billion iPhones have been shipped cumulatively worldwide.
Neil Shah, Senior Analyst at Strategy Analytics, said, "Apple's first iPhone was launched commercially in the United States on June 29, 2007. Between June 2007 and June 2012, we estimate the iPhone family of models has generated US$150 billion of cumulative revenues worldwide for Apple. This is an impressive achievement and it illustrates just how popular the iPhone has become during the past five years.""

Source:  Press release from Strategy Analytics, 27th June 2012

Apple and Samsung collectively account for over 90% of smartphone profits

"Although smartphone shipments grew 41% year-over-year to 144.6 million as of the quarter ending March 2012, many smartphone OEMs are not enjoying the benefits of a rapidly expanding market. Samsung and Apple captured 55% of global smartphone shipments in 1Q’2012 and over 90% of the market’s profits.  The question remains: can anyone break away to become a strong third in this market?"

Source:  Data from ABI Research, reported in a press release, 15th June 2012

FMCG brands in the US can expect a return of $3 to every $1 of digital spend, if the advertising is targeted on buyer behaviour

"Consumer packaged goods (CPG) brands can experience a return of almost three dollars in incremental sales for every dollar spent in online advertising that has been precisely delivered using purchase-based information, according to research from Nielsen Catalina Solutions (NCS), a leader in measuring and improving advertising performance using purchaser-based analytics.
These findings, based on what NCS believes to be the most in-depth study on the correlation between online advertising and offline purchase, indicate a turning point for the digital medium as marketers seek to better leverage their advertising budgets across multiple channels.
“Not only can we prove that online advertising drives sales, but the returns on ad spends are significant when purchaser-based data is used to optimize the media buy,” said Mike Nazzaro, CEO of Nielsen Catalina Solutions. “The marketer’s ability to precisely reach the desired consumer segment in the right media enabled by shopper-based analytics is changing the way advertisers plan and buy media,” Nazzaro said.
Nielsen Catalina Solutions and Nielsen completed more than 800 studies over the past seven years, collaborating with more than 300 CPG brands and 80 companies to measure the correlation between online advertising and offline consumer purchases."

Source:  Data from Nielsen Catalina Solutions, reported in NielsenWire, 24th May 2012

Note:  'Purchase-based information' is a pretty vague term, but here's their definition:

"Nielsen and Catalina established Nielsen Catalina Solutions as a joint venture enabling the CPG advertising industry to understand how advertising influences purchase behavior for TV, online, mobile, CRM and print using single-source analytics. The joint venture integrates viewing data from Nielsen and directly from media companies and purchase data from Nielsen Homescan and Catalina’s shopper data warehouse incorporating a subset of over 60 million households from participating retailers."

Apple makes 73% of all smartphone handset profits

Click to enlarge

Source:  Chart and working from Asymco, quoted in a blog post, 3rd May 2012

Apple's iPhone business makes more revenue & profit than the whole of Microsoft

"Tech writer MG Siegler just noted a remarkable fact:
Apple's iPhone business alone is now bigger than Microsoft.
Not Windows. Not Office. Microsoft.
Think about that.
The iPhone did not exist five years ago. And now it's bigger than a company that, 15 years ago, was dragged into court and threatened with forcible break-up because it had amassed an unassailable and unthinkably profitable monopoly.
The iPhone also appears to be considerably more profitable than Microsoft.
In the December quarter, Apple's iPhone business generated $24.4 billion of revenue. Microsoft's whole company, meanwhile, from Windows to Office to servers to XBox, generated $20.9 billion."
Source:  Business Insider, 4th February 2012

"Several hundred" YouTube partners made more than $100,000 in 2011

"A Google spokeswoman says that "several hundred" of its partners made more than $100,000 in 2011, up 80% from the "couple of hundred" partners who made more than that in 2010. YouTube partners have also increased to 30,000 in 2011 from 20,000 in 2010, says Tom Pickett, YouTube's global director of content, operations and online creators."

Source:  Wall Street Journal, 2nd February 2012

Google generated over $10bn in revenue in Q4 2011

"Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) today announced financial results for the quarter and the fiscal year ended December 31, 2011.
"Google had a really strong quarter ending a great year. Full year revenue was up 29%, and our quarterly revenue blew past the $10 billion mark for the first time,” said Larry Page, CEO of Google. “I am super excited about the growth of Android, Gmail, and Google+, which now has 90 million users globally – well over double what I announced just three months ago. By building a meaningful relationship with our users through Google+ we will create amazing experiences across our services. I’m very excited about what we can do in 2012 – there are tremendous opportunities to help users and grow our business.”
[...]
Revenues – Google reported revenues of $10.58 billion in the fourth quarter of 2011, representing a 25% increase over fourth quarter 2010 revenues of $8.44 billion. Google reports its revenues, consistent with GAAP, on a gross basis without deducting TAC.
Google Sites Revenues - Google-owned sites generated revenues of $7.29 billion, or 69% of total revenues, in the fourth quarter of 2011. This represents a 29% increase over fourth quarter 2010 revenues of $5.67 billion.
Google Network Revenues - Google’s partner sites generated revenues of $2.88 billion, or 27% of total revenues, in the fourth quarter of 2011. This represents a 15% increase from fourth quarter 2010 network revenues of $2.50 billion.
International Revenues - Revenues from outside of the United States totaled $5.60 billion, representing 53% of total revenues in the fourth quarter of 2011, compared to 55% in the third quarter of 2011 and 52% in the fourth quarter of 2010. Excluding gains related to our foreign exchange risk management program, had foreign exchange rates remained constant from the third quarter of 2011 through the fourth quarter of 2011, our revenues in the fourth quarter of 2011 would have been $239 million higher. Excluding gains related to our foreign exchange risk management program, had foreign exchange rates remained constant from the fourth quarter of 2010 through the fourth quarter of 2011, our revenues in the fourth quarter of 2011 would have been $39 million lower.
Revenues from the United Kingdom totaled $1.06 billion, representing 10% of revenues in the fourth quarter of 2011, compared to 10% in the fourth quarter of 2010.
In the fourth quarter of 2011, we recognized a benefit of $25 million to revenues through our foreign exchange risk management program, compared to $25 million in the fourth quarter of 2010.
A reconciliation of our non-GAAP international revenues excluding the impact of foreign exchange and hedging to GAAP international revenues is included at the end of this release.
Paid Clicks – Aggregate paid clicks, which include clicks related to ads served on Google sites and the sites of our Network members, increased approximately 34% over the fourth quarter of 2010 and increased approximately 17% over the third quarter of 2011.
Cost-Per-Click – Average cost-per-click, which includes clicks related to ads served on Google sites and the sites of our Network members, decreased approximately 8% over the fourth quarter of 2010 and decreased approximately 8% over the third quarter of 2011."

Source:  Google's earning statement, 19th January 2012

eBay's revenues increased 35% Y-o-Y in Q4 2011

"eBay Inc., a global commerce platform and payments leader, today reported that revenue for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2011, increased 35% to $3.4 billion, compared to the same period of 2010. The company reported fourth quarter net income on a GAAP basis of $2.0 billion, or $1.51 per diluted share, and non-GAAP net income of $788.6 million, or $0.60 per diluted share. The year-over-year increase in the fourth quarter GAAP earnings per diluted share was driven primarily by a gain on the sale of the company's remaining investment in Skype. The year-over-year increase in the fourth quarter non-GAAP earnings per diluted share was driven primarily by strong top-line growth and improved productivity partially offset by a higher tax rate.
[...]
The company's PayPal business continued to expand its leadership position in global payments. PayPal ended the quarter with 106.3 million active registered accounts, a 13% increase year over year. On average, PayPal added a million new accounts every month in 2011. PayPal revenue for the quarter increased 28% year over year driven primarily by continued merchant and consumer adoption as well as increased penetration on eBay. In the fourth quarter, revenue from PayPal's international markets exceeded revenue from the U.S. for the first time, reflecting the company's strong global footprint and growth in emerging markets. PayPal's net total payment volume (TPV) grew 24% to $33.4 billion in the fourth quarter of 2011. The company's mobile payment volume reached $4.0 billion in 2011, more than five times the mobile payment volume in the prior year, as more consumers used their smartphones and tablets to pay online."
Source:  Press release from eBay, 18th January 2012

Louis CK made over $1m through a direct-to-fan comedy download

"Sean Parker wonders why any artist would sign with a major label these days. But maybe the better question is why any established artist would do the same. Just outside of the music sphere, the latest direct-to-fan feat comes from Louis C.K., who just grossed $1 million on his self-released stand-up download, Live at the Beacon Theater.  "Yesterday we made a million bucks," C.K. told Jimmy Fallon.          
And it's just been happening, just like that.  "It just goes into my phone like 'bling,' it's crazy.  I've never had one million dollars all at once," C.K. described.  And C.K. didn't have to share a gigantic percentage with a major media company, but he is sharing the proceeds with various charities while rewarding staff with Christmas bonuses.  Production costs, which came out of C.K.'s wallet, were around $250,000 and easily covered.
If you're just tuning into this one, C.K. recently positioned  Live at the Beacon Theater for $5, directly to fans.  The download was straight from his site via Paypal, and totally financed by the comedian.  "They said everyone was going to steal it, so I just wrote a note that said, 'please don't do that,'" C.K. joked.  But seriously, at least 220,000 people (and counting) opted for the low-priced, legal alternative."

Source:  DigitalMusicNews, 22nd December 2011

See the download page here

Apple generates 52% of all handset profits despite only selling 4.2% of all handsets

"With the iPhone, Apple is doing to the smartphone business what it has done to the PC business with the Mac: Generating a disproportionate share of profits relative to revenue.
In its third quarter, Apple captured more than half of the handset industry’s overall operating profits — 52 percent, according to Canaccord Genuity analyst T. Michael Walkley. And it managed it with only a 4.2 percent global handset unit market share."
Source:  AllThingsD, 4th November 2011
Note - Oppenheimer say that it's 65%

HTC shipped 13.2m handsets in Q3 2011

"HTC's financial performance improved greatly in the third quarter, thanks to massive growth in handset shipments.
During the period, HTC generated nearly NT$136 billion (US$4.5 billion) in revenue, jumping 79 percent over the same period last year. HTC's after-tax profit hit $624 million, representing a 68 percent gain year-over-year.
According to HTC, which announced its earnings today, it shipped 13.2 million handsets worldwide, up 93 percent year over year.
HTC's third-quarter success follows similarly impressive growth in handset shipments from its top competitors, Apple and Samsung.
Last week, Samsung announced that its smartphone shipments jumped more than 300 percent compared to the third quarter of 2010. That success helped Samsung nab 23.8 percent of the smartphone space during the period, according to research firm Strategy Analytics. Apple's iPhone captured 14.6 percent of the market."

Source:  CNET News, 31st October 2011

Google made nearly $10bn in revenue in Q3 2011

"Revenues – Google reported revenues of $9.72 billion in the third quarter of 2011, representing a 33% increase over third quarter 2010 revenues of $7.29 billion. Google reports its revenues, consistent with GAAP, on a gross basis without deducting TAC.
Google Sites Revenues - Google-owned sites generated revenues of $6.74 billion, or 69% of total revenues, in the third quarter of 2011. This represents a 39% increase over third quarter 2010 revenues of $4.83 billion.
Google Network Revenues - Google’s partner sites generated revenues, through AdSense programs, of $2.60 billion, or 27% of total revenues, in the third quarter of 2011. This represents a 18% increase from third quarter 2010 network revenues of $2.20 billion.
International Revenues - Revenues from outside of the United States totaled $5.3 billion, representing 55% of total revenues in the third quarter of 2011, compared to 54% in the second quarter of 2011 and 52% in the third quarter of 2010. Excluding gains related to our foreign exchange risk management program, had foreign exchange rates remained constant from the second quarter of 2011 through the third quarter of 2011, our revenues in the third quarter of 2011 would have been $53 million lower. Excluding gains related to our foreign exchange risk management program, had foreign exchange rates remained constant from the third quarter of 2010 through the third quarter of 2011, our revenues in the third quarter of 2011 would have been $483 million lower.
Revenues from the United Kingdom totaled $1.05 billion, representing 11% of revenues in the third quarter of 2011, compared to 12% in the third quarter of 2010.
In the third quarter of 2011, we recognized a benefit of $1 million to revenues through our foreign exchange risk management program, compared to $89 million in the third quarter of 2010.
A reconciliation of our non-GAAP international revenues excluding the impact of foreign exchange and hedging to GAAP international revenues is included at the end of this release.
Paid Clicks – Aggregate paid clicks, which include clicks related to ads served on Google sites and the sites of our AdSense partners, increased approximately 28% over the third quarter of 2010 and increased approximately 13% over the second quarter of 2011.
Cost-Per-Click – Average cost-per-click, which includes clicks related to ads served on Google sites and the sites of our AdSense partners, increased approximately 5% over the third quarter of 2010 and decreased approximately 5% over the second quarter of 2011."

Source:  Google's earning announcement, 13th October 2011