Facebook forced to delay results as tech giants size up Super Thursday
Facebook has been forced to push back its second-quarter results due a scheduling clash, putting the earnings of all four major US tech giants on the same day.
Facebook, Apple, Amazon and Google will now all report their quarterly earnings after markets close on Thursday.
The chief executives of the four companies are also set to appear before the US House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, providing testimony on a probe of the companies’ alleged anti-competitive behaviour.
Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, Apple’s Tim Cook, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Google’s Sundar Pichai will all be appearing via video link.
Facebook said it was delaying its results to ensure Zuckerberg could be available to speak to analysts alongside the earnings report on Thursday.
US politicians are expected to question the tech giants’ executives on whether they actively work to harm and eliminate smaller rivals, while not always making the best choices for their customers.
The hearing was originally scheduled for today, however it was postponed to allow officials to attend the memorial service for US representative John Lewis.
As part of a report it is compiling to come alongside the probe, the committee said last week it had received 1.3m documents from the companies.
The panel said the report could be released by late summer or early fall, which will recommend whether new laws are needed to end the companies’ dominance of their respective sectors.
All the chief executives are attending the hearing voluntarily, following earlier threats from representatives of subpoenas if they failed to appear.