Alphabet Earnings Disappoint. The Stock Is Dropping.
Alphabet shares dipped late Tuesday after the company missed first-quarter earnings expectations.
Google’s parent company reported net income of $16.4 billion, or $24.62 per share. Analysts polled by FactSet had forecast earnings of $25.75. Revenues of $68.01 billion were in line with expectations.
Alphabet (ticker: GOOGL) shares were down 4.8% immediately following the release. The company, along with Microsoft , kicked off big-tech earnings season, which comes at a tumultuous time for the sector.
At its $2,373 close on Tuesday, Alphabet stock was down 18% year to date, and was up only 3.6% from where it was trading 12 months ago. Tech stocks, more broadly, have fared worse. The Nasdaq Composite index has fallen 20% year to date, and 11% in the latest 12 months, as investors worry about the Federal Reserve’s efforts to combat inflation. Netflix was the latest tech-stock blowup recently when it reported a drop in subscribers that sent shares tumbling.
Google’s services revenue totaled $61.47 billion—which includes advertising revenue of $54.66 billion and other revenue of $6.81 billion—while cloud revenue hit $5.82 billion.
“Q1 saw strong growth in Search and Cloud, in particular, which are both helping people and businesses as the digital transformation continues,” CEO Sundar Pichai said in the earnings release. “We’ll keep investing in great products and services, and creating opportunities for partners and local communities around the world.”
During the company’s earnings call, Chief Financial Officer Ruth Porat said revenue growth in the company’s advertising business will face a tough comparison in the second quarter of 2022. The results will also reflect the suspension of commercial activities in Russia, Porat added.
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