Google Parent Alphabet reported today that it raked in a total of $ 55.3 billion in revenue over the past three months – a 34% increase from this time last year. (In case you’re curious, the guys on Wall Street were expecting revenue growth of around 25%.) The company’s net profit also rose significantly, from $ 6.8 billion in the first quarter. 2020 to $ 17.9 billion in the quarter of this year.
Those big elevators shouldn’t come as much of a surprise – after all, we spent much of the last quarter of last year in the early stages of a pandemic that caused some companies to cut ad budgets significantly. Those marketing dollars are what keeps Google in the green, and with fewer of them to work with, Alphabet has spent the past year posting muted financials compared to the rest of its FAANG cohorts. Still, the latest version of Alphabet is another sign that the industry is slowly returning to business as usual – or something, at least.
“Over the past year, people have turned to Google search and many online services to stay informed, connected and entertained,” Google CEO Sundar Pichai said in a statement. “We continued to focus on providing trusted services to help people around the world.”
YouTube might be the best example of an Alphabet service that flourished during the pandemic; ads running on the platform accounted for $ 6 billion of Alphabet’s total revenue. (That’s an increase of around $ 4 billion as people seriously stayed home.) Alphabet also reported a new high for Google’s cloud business, which brought in just over $ 4 in revenue. billions of dollars. Meanwhile, Alphabet’s “Other Bets” category – which includes companies like autonomous driving company Waymo and Verily – saw very slight growth year over year. These subsidiaries collectively grossed about $ 60 million more than last year, but the resulting losses have remained more or less stable at around $ 1.1 billion.
Consistent gains in revenue from Google’s services (which come from the Play Store, Google One and more), along with increased success from its broader advertising business, mean Alphabet is looking at a bumper quarter. At the time of publication, the holding’s share price is up approximately 4.2% after hours.
As the vaccine-driven world reopening has clearly left more wind in Alphabet’s sails, the company continues to face increased scrutiny from regulators around the world for allegedly anti-competitive business practices. .
Google last month attempt to block third-party tracking cookies in its Chrome web browser caught the attention of the US Department of Justice, which pushed the search giant to explain how its planned change could affect the news industry and its advertising competition. More recently, Match Group chief legal officer Jared Sine accused Google of attempting to threaten his company by calling representatives on the phone to seek clarification on Sine’s testimony before a Senate subcommittee. (Wilson White, senior director of public policy and government relations at Google, denied that the line of inquiry was anything more than an “honest question, according to CNBC.)
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