Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL) stock rose over 5% before the bell on Friday after the company reported strong fiscal first quarter earnings, beating expectations. It also announced a 5% dividend increase and $70 billion in stock buybacks.
For Q1, Alphabet reported earnings per share (EPS) of $2.81 on revenue of $90.2 billion. Analysts were expecting EPS of $2.01 on revenue of $89.1 billion, according to Bloomberg consensus estimates.
At close: April 24 at 4:00:01 PM EDT
The company reported earnings per share of $1.89 on revenue of $80.5 billion during the same period last year.
Google’s advertising revenue topped out at $66.8 billion versus expectations of $66.4 billion. Google Cloud Platform revenue was $12.2 billion versus expectations of $12.3 billion. The segment saw $9.5 billion in revenue in Q1 2024.
Google is among the first Big Tech companies to report its earnings since President Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariff plan sent markets into a tailspin and raised the specter of a possible economic recession, something analysts say could impact second-half earnings.
“We have seen some transaction velocity in e-commerce drop off of late, and given the macro noise, would expect digital ads to weaken in 2Q,” Barclays analyst Ross Sandler wrote in an April 8 investor note.
The company is also contending with the fallout from its twin antitrust losses. Last week, a US federal judge found that Google holds an illegal monopoly over the online advertising market, which could force it to sell off or reorganize its ads business.
The loss comes less than a year after a judge found that Google’s search and ad businesses also violated antitrust laws.
Email Daniel Howley at dhowley@yahoofinance.com. Follow him on Twitter at @DanielHowley.
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