Alphabet shares jumped 14% on the back of the profit, first-ever dividend

Alphabet shares rose in extended trading on Thursday after the company reported results that beat analysts’ estimates, showed sharply rising profits in its cloud division and declared its first dividend.

The after-hours surge lifted Alphabet’s market cap above $2 trillion.

Here are the results.

• Earnings per share: $1.89 vs. $1.51 per share expected by LSEG
• Income: $80.54 billion vs. $78.59 billion expected by LSEG

Wall Street also watched several other numbers in the report:

• YouTube ad revenue: $8.09 billion vs. $7.72 billion expected, according to StreetAccount.
• Google Cloud Revenue: $9.57 billion vs. an estimate of $9.35 billion, according to StreetAccount.
• Traffic Acquisition Cost (TAC): $12.95 billion expected $12.74 billion, according to StreetAccount.

Alphabet’s revenue rose 15% from $69.79 billion a year earlier, the fastest growth rate since early 2022.

Alphabet said its board had approved a cash dividend of 20 cents per share to be paid on June 17 to shareholders of record as of June 10. The company said it “intends to pay quarterly cash dividends in the future.”

Next up is Alphabet’s dividend Metawhich announced its first dividend in February.

The company also said its board had authorized the repurchase of an additional $70 billion in shares “in a manner deemed to be in the best interests of the company and its shareholders.” Alphabet closed the quarter with cash, equivalents and marketable securities of $108 billion, down slightly from $110.9 billion a year earlier.

Net income jumped 57% to $23.66 billion, or $1.89 a share, from $15.05 billion, or $1.17 a share, a year earlier.

The company also beat Wall Street expectations for YouTube ad revenue and cloud revenue.

Google reported total ad sales of $61.66 billion, up from $54.55 billion a year ago. Google’s core advertising business is accelerating again after a difficult 2022 and 2023, when rising interest rates and inflation concerns forced brands to cut spending.

Operating income at Google’s cloud business more than quadrupled to $900 million, showing the company is finally generating significant profits after pouring money into the business for years to keep up with Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure.

The company is investing heavily in artificial intelligence, adding generative AI features to search and other services to ensure users continue to use Google tools even as the way they search for information online changes.

“Our leadership in AI research and infrastructure, as well as our global product footprint, position us well for the next wave of AI innovation,” CEO Sundar Pichai said in the earnings release.

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