Apple, Amazon Miss Wall Street Expectations

Apple and Amazon issued earnings reports that fizzled on Wall Street today:

• Apple: It missed Wall Street expectations for the second straight quarter, as iPad sales fell short of forecasts. Net income in the fiscal fourth quarter was $8.2 billion, or $8.67 per share. That was up 24% from $6.6 billion, or $7.05 per share, a year ago. Analysts polled by FactSet were expecting earnings of $8.84 per share. Slowing growth in China didn't help. Apple sold 26.9 million iPhones in the quarter, at the high end of expectations, and 14 million iPads.

• Amazon: The world's largest online retailer posted a loss of $274 million, or 60 cents per share, in the July-September period. That's down from earnings of $63 million, or 14 cents per share, a year earlier. The latest quarter's results include a loss of 37 cents per share related to Amazon's stake in LivingSocial. Without this charge, it still would have lost 23 cents per share, worse than what analysts are expecting. Revenue grew 27% to $13.81 billion, from $10.88 billion, also falling short of analysts' expectations.

(More Apple stories.)