Google parent company Alphabet (GOOGL) has reported better-than-expected first-quarter financial results, sending the company’s stock 5% higher.
The Silicon Valley-based technology giant reported earnings per share (EPS) of $2.81 U.S., which beat the $2.01 U.S. that was expected on Wall Street. Net income increased 46% from a year ago.
Revenue during the period totaled $90.23 billion U.S., which came out ahead of the $89.12 billion U.S. that was expected among analysts. Sales were up 12% from a year earlier.
Among Alphabet’s various business segments, advertising revenue at YouTube totaled $8.93 billion U.S. That was slightly below the $8.97 billion U.S. anticipated by analysts.
Google Cloud revenue totaled $12.26 billion U.S., which also just missed consensus forecasts of $12.27 billion U.S.
The company’s traffic acquisition costs (TAC) came in at $13.75 billion U.S. compared to $13.66 billion U.S. that was expected.
The real strength of Alphabet’s financial results came from its search and advertising units, which exhibited strong growth despite artificial intelligence (A.I.) competition intensifying.
Overall advertising, which consists mostly of online and YouTube, brought in $66.89 billion U.S. during Q1, up 8.5% from a year ago.
Finance, retail, healthcare and travel were among the industries advertising with Google, helping revenue to grow, said the company.
The company’s “Search and other” segment reported $50.7 billion U.S. of revenue, up nearly 10% from $46.16 billion U.S. the previous year.
Alphabet said, “AI Overviews,” it’s A.I. tool placed at the top of its Google search page, now has 1.5 billion users per month, up from one billion in October 2024.
The company said its “Other Bets” segment, which includes its self-driving car unit Waymo and life sciences unit Verily, brought in $450 million U.S. in Q1, down 9% from the year prior.
Management said they still expect to invest $75 billion U.S. in capital expenditures this year but stipulated that “the investment level may fluctuate from quarter to quarter…”
Alphabet made its largest acquisition ever in March of this year when it agreed to buy Wiz for $32 billion U.S. in cash.
The company’s board authorized it to repurchase an additional $70 billion U.S. in shares. Alphabet’s stock has declined 16% this year to trade at $159.28 U.S. per share.
Tech Insider
