Google parent Alphabet said it would buy back $70 billion worth of shares and increase its dividend by 5% as it reported first-quarter earnings above Wall Street expectations on Thursday.
Shares jumped 4% in extended trading, adding about $75 billion to the company’s market value.
Alphabet beat quarterly revenue estimates, benefiting from steady growth in its digital advertising business, which helped offset muted growth at its cloud computing unit.
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Revenue from Google’s mainstay ad business, which makes up about 75% of its overall revenue, rose 8.5% to $66.89 billion in the quarter — a slowdown from the prior quarter’s 10.6% increase, but still above analysts’ expectations for a rise of 7.7%.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GOOGL | ALPHABET INC. | 159.28 | +3.93 | +2.53% |
Google Cloud reported a 28% rise in revenue to $12.26 billion, slowing from the 30.1% growth reported in the previous quarter. Analysts were expecting the unit to report revenue of $12.27 billion, according to LSEG’s data compilation.
The company reported total revenue of $90.23 billion for the first quarter, compared to analysts’ average estimate of $89.12 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.
First-quarter net income was $34.54 billion, surpassing Wall Street expectations of $24.85 billion.
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