Five big technology giants on Thursday posted mixed earnings in the latest quarter as they grapple with a pandemic-induced economic slowdown and a greater political scrutiny.

Amazon, Apple, Google-parent Alphabet, Facebook and Twitter reported earnings that exceeded analyst expectations but a dim outlook led to drops in share prices for all except Alphabet in after-market trading.

The earnings come a day after the CEOs of Facebook, Google and Twitter were grilled by the United States' Senate Commerce Committee over accusations of anti-conservative bias.The top executives rejected the accusations in their testimonies.

Thursday's results showed a combined profit of $38 billion (€32.5 billion) for Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google.

Read more: US lawmakers call for shakeup of big tech 'monopoly power' in antitrust report

Amazon reported a record $6.3 billion profit in the third quarter, almost triple the company's profits in the same quarter last year.

Revenues jumped 37% from last year as Amazon reported $96.1 billion in net sales, boosted by a continued surge in online shopping due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Apple had the most disappointment results in the group with a modest dip in earnings. Apple's profit dropped 7% to  $12.7 billion.

Apple shares also nosedived by 5.9% as it announced weaker iPhone sales — the major income driver for the tech giant — in the earnings release.

While the revenue rose to $64.7 billion in the fiscal fourth quarter, revenue from iPhone sales slid around 20% from a year ago, making investors anxious.

After suffering its first-ever quarterly decline in revenue in the previous quarter, Google-parent Alphabet's profits rose 59% to $11.2 billion.

The company's revenue climbed 14% to $46.2 billion.

Facebook's profits were up 29% from last year at $7.8 billion and revenue rose to $21.2 billion  but looking ahead to 2021 the company predicted a "significant amount of uncertainty.''

Twitter earned $28.66 million, down 22% from last year and its revenue climbed 14% to $936.2 million.

The company also predicted uncertainty going forward, partly due to the upcoming US election, and said it is "hard to predict how advertiser behavior could change.''

dvv/alw (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)