Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG), the parent company of Google, reported its first quarter earnings that blew past expectations.
The results were boosted by a good showing from its advertising segments amidst an industry-wide slowdown in digital ad spending.
Simultaneously, the company announced a massive $70 billion share buyback program.
For the first quarter of 2023, Alphabet posted $69.7 billion in revenue compared to the $68.9 billion expected, up 3% year-over-year. Earnings per share came in well ahead of expectations at $1.17 versus $1.08 estimated.
Google Ad revenue hit $54.55 billion while YouTube Ad revenue reached $6.69 billion, both well ahead of analyst expectations of $54.55 billion and $6.64 billion, respectively.
Another encouraging sign: Google Cloud became profitable for the first time, according to Alphabet, taking in $191 million in income versus a loss of $706 million in the same year-ago quarter.
During the first quarter of 2023, the technology giant made moves to cut costs, including an aggressive move to cull 12,000 jobs in January 2023.
“We are pleased with our business performance in the first quarter, with Search performing well and momentum in Cloud,” Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said in a statement accompanying the results.
“We introduced important product updates anchored in deep computer science and AI. Our North Star is providing the most helpful answers for our users, and we see huge opportunities ahead, continuing our long track record of innovation.”
Shares of Alphabet were up 4.6% after the bell on Tuesday. Its stock is up around 16.5% year-to-date.
Contact Angela at angela@proactiveinvestors.com
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