Google owner Alphabet beats expectations and pays first dividend – E24

The tech giant pays its dividend for the first time. The share rose sharply after the figures were released.

The financials of the company that owns Google were better than expected at the top and bottom of accounts in the first quarter of 2024. Revenues and profits were up significantly from the same time last year.

• Alphabet's revenue reached $80.54 billion. That was slightly better than analysts' expectations of $79.04 billion, according to estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
• Earnings per share of $1.89 were also stronger than expectations, which were $1.53 per share.
• In total, profit after tax ended at $23.66 billion.

First profits

Meanwhile, Alphabet reported that the board of directors has approved the start of a dividend program. The company's first-ever dividend will be $0.20 per share.

Alphabet also wrote that the company plans to pay a quarterly dividend in the future as well.

In addition, the Board of Directors approved an expansion of the stock repurchase program by an additional $70 billion.

Alphabet shares rose a whopping 13.7 percent in after-market trading immediately after the 23rd.

Alphabet's share has generally seen good development over the past year. Before today's quarterly figures, it had risen more than 14 percent since the new year.

Cloud services continue to grow

A large portion of Google's income comes from advertising associated with various Google services, such as the search engine and YouTube. In addition, the company owns, among other things, the cloud service Google Cloud.

Cloud services revenue continued to increase in the first quarter, reaching $9.57 billion. In advance, these were expected to reach 9.37 billion.

Google Cloud's operating result was also better than expected, with revenue reaching $900 million.

Artificial intelligence project

Our results in the first quarter reflect strong results from search, YouTube, and cloud services. We are in our Gemini era and there is good momentum throughout the company. Our leadership in AI research and infrastructure, and our global product footprint, position us well for the next wave of AI innovation,” says Google CEO Sundar Pichai.

As is the case with many major technology companies, there is tension over what Google says about artificial intelligence, plans to move forward with this project and investments in this field.

Google has launched its advanced AI model, Gemini, as a competitor to ChatGPT. The project includes several tools integrated into Google products.

Alphabet presents numbers at the same time as Microsoft, another important player in the technology and artificial intelligence space. Microsoft shares also rose in after-market trading after beating expectations.

Another tech giant, Meta, presented its quarterly numbers yesterday. The Facebook owner beat expectations on revenue and profits, but the stock fell nonetheless. Among other things, Meta provided some disappointing revenue guidance in the second quarter and announced another increase in investments in artificial intelligence.