Google parent company Alphabet (GOOG/GOOGL) has declared its first dividend payment alongside blowout first-quarter earnings.
The technology giant said that its board of directors has approved a cash dividend of $0.20 U.S. per share to be paid on June 17 to stockholders of record as of June 10.
In a news release, the company said that it “intends to pay quarterly cash dividends in the future.”
In addition to the quarterly dividend, Alphabet also announced a new $70 billion U.S. stock buyback program. The company had $108 billion U.S. of cash on hand at the end of Q1.
Alphabet announced the dividend and share repurchases along with Q1 financial results that trounced Wall Street forecasts.
The company reported earnings per share (EPS) of $1.89 U.S. versus $1.51 U.S. that was expected among analysts who cover the company. The profit was up 57% from a year ago.
Revenue in the January through March quarter totaled $80.54 billion U.S. compared to $78.59 billion U.S. that had been estimated.
Alphabet’s revenue increased 15% from a year earlier, the fastest rate of growth since early 2022.
Highlights of the earnings print included YouTube advertising revenue of $8.09 billion U.S. topping forecasts of $7.72 billion U.S.
Additionally, revenue at Google Cloud totaled $9.57 billion U.S. in Q1, beating estimates of $9.35 billion U.S.
Total advertising sales at search engine Google came in at $61.66 billion U.S., up from $54.55 billion U.S. a year ago.
Alphabet said that its online advertising business is accelerating after a difficult 2022 and 2023 when rising interest rates forced other companies to cutback their ad spending.
Operating income in Google’s cloud business more than quadrupled to $900 million U.S. in Q1, showing that the company is now generating substantial profits in that business segment.
In terms of artificial intelligence (AI), Alphabet said that it continues to add generative AI features across its products, including its leading search engine.
Alphabet’s stock is up 12% in premarket trading on news of the dividend and financial results. Prior to today (April 26), the stock had risen 50% in the last year to $156 U.S. per share.
The after-hours move has pushed Alphabet’s market capitalization past $2 trillion U.S.
