In a week when hundreds of billions in market value were wiped from the biggest technology companies, Apple is bucking the trend with another set of resilient results.
Apple shares jumped 7.6 per cent on Friday and added more than $150 billion in market value after the iPhone maker’s revenue and profit both topped analysts’ estimates.
In contrast, shares in fellow megacaps Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon and Meta Platforms tumbled after reporting results this week, shedding $477bn in combined market value in the trading session after the results.
Apple’s slight beat on revenue in the fourth quarter at a time when most large technology companies are struggling “shows a resilient business model”, said Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Anurag Rana.
Also on Friday, Amazon fell as much as 12 per cent to briefly dip below $1 trillion in market value, as the e-commerce and cloud computing company joined Microsoft in providing weak updates to its cloud business — fast-growing divisions for both tech giants.
Overall, Apple turned out to be this week’s bright spot among many disappointing earnings releases from technology companies, said Peter Garnry, head of equity strategy at Saxo Bank.
“Apple’s performance the past year with a cost-of-living crisis, supply constraints and soaring input costs has been phenomenal and last night’s result confirms that Apple is a fortress that can withstand the volatile environment,” he said.
Libya's Gold
UN Panel of Experts found regime secretly sold a fifth of the country's gold reserves.
The panel’s 2017 report followed a trail to West Africa where large sums of cash and gold were hidden by Abdullah Al Senussi, Qaddafi’s former intelligence chief, in 2011.
Cases filled with cash that was said to amount to $560m in 100 dollar notes, that was kept by a group of Libyans in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
A second stash was said to have been held in Accra, Ghana, inside boxes at the local offices of an international human rights organisation based in France.
Company Profile
Name: JustClean
Based: Kuwait with offices in other GCC countries
Launch year: 2016
Number of employees: 130
Sector: online laundry service
Funding: $12.9m from Kuwait-based Faith Capital Holding
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
Why are asylum seekers being housed in hotels?
The number of asylum applications in the UK has reached a new record high, driven by those illegally entering the country in small boats crossing the English Channel.
A total of 111,084 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to June 2025, the highest number for any 12-month period since current records began in 2001.
Asylum seekers and their families can be housed in temporary accommodation while their claim is assessed.
The Home Office provides the accommodation, meaning asylum seekers cannot choose where they live.
When there is not enough housing, the Home Office can move people to hotels or large sites like former military bases.
Indoor Cricket World Cup - Sept 16-20, Insportz, Dubai
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Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
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