Twitter closes San Francisco, New York offices as Covid cases surge

Twitter has announced that it will close its San Francisco and New York offices immediately as Covid cases surge across the country.

Wednesday's announcement comes just two weeks after the social media company reopened their offices at both cities.

"After careful consideration of the CDC's updated guidelines, and in light of current conditions, Twitter has made the decision to close our opened offices in New York and San Francisco as well as pause future office reopenings, effective immediately," a Twitter spokesperson said in a statement Wednesday.

More from NBC Bay Area:

More Than Half of SF Restaurants Support Vaccine Requirement for Indoor Dining

Silicon Valley Tech Companies Tighten Their Rules on COVID-19 Vaccinations

Why California Can't Build Affordable Housing

The company added that they are continuing to closely monitor local conditions and make necessary changes that "prioritize the health and safety of our Tweeps."

Twitter is the latest Bay Area company to either delay their reopening or close their offices due the delta variant.

Earlier on Wednesday, Google announced that they will delay office returns to October. A month later than its original September date.

This story is developing. Stay with NBC Bay Area for updates.

Nokia lifts outlook as Q2 profit beats forecast

HELSINKI, July 29 (Reuters) – Telecom equipment maker Nokia reported a stronger-than-expected second-quarter operating profit on Thursday and raised its full-year outlook as promised, thanks to a turnaround of its business.

The Finnish company’s April-June comparable operating profit rose to 682 million euros ($808.51 million) from 423 million euros a year earlier, beating the 408-million euro mean estimate in a Refinitiv poll of analysts.

STMicroelectronics NV Profit Rises In Q2

STMicroelectronics NV (STM) revealed earnings for its second quarter that rose from last year.

The company’s bottom line totaled $412 million, or $0.44 per share. This compares with $90 million, or $0.10 per share, in last year’s second quarter.

Analysts had expected the company to earn $0.37 per share, according to figures compiled by Thomson Reuters. Analysts’ estimates typically exclude special items.

The company’s revenue for the quarter rose 43.1% to $2.99 billion from $2.09 billion last year.

STMicroelectronics NV earnings at a glance:

-Earnings (Q2): $412 Mln. vs. $90 Mln. last year.
-EPS (Q2): $0.44 vs. $0.10 last year.
-Analysts Estimate: $0.37
-Revenue (Q2): $2.99 Bln vs. $2.09 Bln last year.

-Guidance:
Next quarter revenue guidance: $3.20 bln

AstraZeneca Q2 Profit Down, Revenues Climb; Updates FY21 Outlook – Quick Facts

AstraZeneca (AZN.L,AZN) reported Thursday that its second-quarter profit before tax fell 20 percent to $764 million from last year’s $961 million. Earnings per share were $0.42, down 27 percent from $0.58 a year ago.

Core earnings per share were $0.90, down 6 percent.

Total revenue for the second quarter climbed 31 percent to $8.22 billion from last year’s $6.28 billion. Revenues grew 25 percent at constant currency rates.

Excluding the contribution from the pandemic COVID-19 vaccine, revenue increased 17% in the quarter to $7.33 billion.

Further, the company announced an unchanged first interim dividend of $0.90 or 64.8 pence per ordinary share.

Looking ahead, AstraZeneca updated its full-year 2021 guidance to reflect the contribution of Alexion in the year. Total revenue is now expected to increase by a low-twenties percentage, accompanied by a faster growth in Core earnings per share to $5.05 to $5.40.

The previous expectations issued by both companies earlier in 2021 remain broadly in line with current assumptions and underpin the updated guidance.

Nestle H1 Profit Rises; Lifts FY21 Outlook – Quick Facts

Swiss food and beverage giant Nestle SA (NSRGY.PK,NSTR.L) reported Thursday that its first-half equity attributable to shareholders of the parent was $49.55 billion, higher than last year’s $46.36 billion. Basic earnings per share were $2.34, up from $2.13 last year.

Sales grew to $45.98 billion from last year’s $42.61 billion. In Swiss francs, sales were 41.76 billion francs, up 1.;5 percent from 41.15 billion francs a year ago. Organic growth reached 8.1 percent.

Further, the company lifted full-year 2021 outlook. The company expects organic sales growth between 5 percent and 6 percent. The underlying trading operating profit margin is now expected around 17.5 percent.

Beyond 2021, mid-term outlook for continued moderate margin improvement remains unchanged. Underlying earnings per share in constant currency and capital efficiency are expected to increase this year.

For 2021, the company previously expected continued increase in organic sales growth towards a mid single-digit rate; underlying trading operating profit margin with continued moderate improvement; underlying earnings per share in constant currency and capital efficiency to increase.

Shell Turns To Profit In Q2; To Buy Back $2 Bln Of Shares

Royal Dutch Shell Plc. (RDS-B,RDSB.L,RDSA.L,RDS-A) reported that its second-quarter income attributable to shareholders was $3.43 billion or $0.44 per share compared to a loss of $18.13 billion or $2.33 per share in the prior year.

Adjusted earnings were $5.53 billion compared to $638 million last year.

Total revenue and other income for the quarter grew to $61.76 billion from $32.49 billion last year.

The company declared an interim dividend of $0.24 per share. The company launched share buyback of $2 billion which is targeted to be completed by the end of 2021.