Alphabet Surpasses Q2 Expectations as Cloud and Ad Revenue Soar
Alphabet beats analyst estimates for both revenue and earnings per share in the second quarter, driven by strong advertising sales and a rapidly growing cloud business.
Alphabet shares rise more than 9% after the company reports second-quarter earnings that easily beat analyst expectations. The tech giant posts an earnings per share of $14.21 on revenue of $38.94 billion, while also announcing a massive $25 billion stock repurchase program to fund future growth and acquisitions.
Google's advertising revenue drives the strong quarter, reaching $32.6 billion as paid clicks jump 28% compared to the previous year. Additionally, the company keeps traffic acquisition costs lower than expected, which means Google pays less to companies like Apple to maintain its position as the default search engine on external devices.
Google Cloud emerges as a major growth engine, achieving an annual revenue run rate of over $8 billion under new leader Thomas Kurian. Meanwhile, Alphabet's "other bets" segment, which includes the self-driving unit Waymo, brings in $162 million in revenue for the quarter.