Alphabet stocks rose in after-hours trading on Tuesday after the Google parent company’s second-quarter profits exceeded Wall Street expectations, amid a rebound in advertising dollars and the growing boom in artificial intelligence.
The company reported net profits of $1.44 per share for the April-June period, compared with estimates of $1.34 per share. Revenue for the quarter stood at $74.6bn, compared with estimates of $72.82bn, according to Refinitiv data.
That growth is attributed in part to steady demand for Google Cloud services, which is expected to continue to climb as adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) tools grows.
“There’s exciting momentum across our products and the company, which drove strong results this quarter,” said Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Alphabet and Google, in a statement. “Our continued leadership in AI and our excellence in engineering and innovation are driving the next evolution of Search, and improving all our services.”
Advertisers had pulled back spending in recent years amid economic woes. But as they retreat from Twitter – now renamed “X” – and other more volatile platforms, companies like Alphabet and Facebook-owner Meta Platforms are seeing a rebound.
This is the second earnings report from Alphabet that offered signs of potential recovery after a difficult year for the company – its first quarter earnings reported in April showed an unexpected increase in revenue. The sunnier forecast comes after the company cut more than 12,000 jobs, or 6% of its global workforce, in January.
This story is developing …
Reuters contributed reporting