Alphabet Inc reports impressive quarterly results for the fourth quarter of 2020, beating analysts’ expectations.
In the report released after the bell on Tuesday, revenue came at a 23.5% year on year hike to $59.6 billion.
Adjusted earnings followed an upward trajectory by hiking 45% to $22.30 per diluted share.
Both figures exceeded Wall Street analysts’ projection, which stood at $15.99 per share and $53.2 billion in revenue.
In total, 2020 sales growth stood at 14%, which is the slowest pace since 2009. During the tail-end of the Great Recession, the firm reported an 8.5% growth.
Nevertheless, the spending contraction adopted provided a much-needed balance amid the slowdown.
With this, operating cash ballooned from $17 billion during the start of last year to $137 billion in the incumbent figure.
According to the firm’s chief financial officer, the impressive quarter is attributed mainly to the robust consumer activity on google.com and YouTube.
CFO Ruth Porat attributed the last quarter of the year to a great end to a challenging era.
The consumer shift towards remote work required a shift towards cloud-based operations, benefiting Google Cloud.
Google currently holds the top spot of firms that generate the most revenue from internet advertising.
It further benefited from the fluctuation of retail and corporate clients online which helped cut back reversals from travel and entertainment advertisers.
However, Google Cloud posted an operating loss of $1.24 billion for Q4 and a $5.6 billion decline in annual revenue. This translates to a 21% increase from 2019’s annual loss.
Despite the fall in this sector, GOOGL’s Class A stocks closed with a 1.38% increase to $1,919.12 per share. This came as traders focus on the better than expected sales for the period.
Earnings from Ads Still in Question
Shares jumped as much as 8% in the extended session, sending per share price to more than $2,000 per share.
The tech juggernaut’s Chief Executive Sundar Pichai acknowledged Google’s importance in supporting firms affected by the pandemic.
This is especially true for small and medium businesses that struggled to keep their heads above the water amid an era of digitization.
According to the Nasdaq frontrunner’s executives, the new quarter provides a more hopeful tone towards recovery on Google Cloud.
The venture suffered an operating loss of $1.24 billion during the last three months of 2020 while the annual loss is at $5.6 billion.
An anticipated uptick in advertising and continuous deployment of coronavirus vaccines is anticipated to boost overall business.
On the other hand, CEO Pichai said that it would take some time before the advertising business becomes a sustainable, profitable venture.
