Google’s Parent Company Alphabet Surpassed Expectations
Alphabet continues to reach great results. Google’s parent company reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings as well as revenues. It also announced a 20-for-1 stock split that will go into effect in July.
The tech giant reported revenue growth of 32%, proving again that Alphabet was able to withstand the pressures from Covid-19 and inflation.
The results reported by Alphabet follow a year of outperformance. In 2021, the stock jumped 65%, beating all other tech giants and more than tripling gains in the S&P 500.
Google’s advertising revenue reached 61.24 billion, up 33% from $46.2 billion in the same period a year earlier.
According to Google’s chief business officer Philipp Schindler, retail was the largest contributor to year-over-year ad growth. Media, as well as finance spending, was also significant.
Alphabet and its results
However, YouTube’s ad revenue was the only metric that fell short of analysts’ expectations. YouTube is trying to challenge TikTok with a service called Shorts.
Its cloud reported revenue growth of 45% to $5.54 billion. Importantly, operating loss in cloud came in at $890 million during the quarter, which narrowed from the $1.14 billion loss a year ago. Nevertheless, it expanded from the third quarter, when cloud lost $644 million.
According to Alphabet’s CEO Sundar Pichai, Alphabet’s backlog rose more than 70% to 51 billion. Pichai noted that Alphabet saw 65% year-over-year growth in the number of cloud deals worth more than $1 billion.
Moreover, revenue for the company’s Other Bets umbrella came in at $181 million – down slightly from a year ago.
Google’s other revenue segment reached $8.16 billion in sales, up from $6.67 billion the year prior. Sundar Pichai said the company saw an “all-times sales record” for its Pixel smartphone in spite of supply chain constraints.
