Google-parent Alphabet (GOOGL) on Tuesday reported March-quarter earnings and revenue that missed Wall Street targets. GOOGL stock fell as YouTube advertising growth fell short of expectations amid rising competition with TikTok.
After the market close, Alphabet said first-quarter earnings fell 6% to $24.62 per share. Google reported a loss of $1.07 billion on equity investments, reducing profit by 99 cents per share.
The company reports earnings under generally accepted accounting principles, also known as GAAP.
Also, gross revenue rose 23% to $68.01 billion. Analysts had predicted Google earnings of $25.74 per share on revenue of $68.05 billion.
GOOGL stock fell 4.4% to near 2,268 in extended trading on the stock market today.
Google Stock: YouTube Revenue Misses Estimates
Google said cloud-computing revenue rose 44% to $5.82 billion vs. estimates of $5.73 billion.
Meanwhile, YouTube advertising revenue rose 14% to $6.87 billion. Also, analysts had estimated YouTube ad revenue of $7.21 billion. Social media firm TikTok’s advertising growth has boomed via its short-form videos. That poses a headwind to YouTube’s growth, analysts say.
The company said net revenue, minus traffic acquisition costs, came in at $56.02 billion vs. estimates of $56.26 billion. Traffic acquisition costs — what Google pays to have traffic directed to its websites — jumped 23% to $11.99 billion. That surpassed estimates of $11.69 billion.
The company said Google’s board of directors has authorized $70 billion in additional stock repurchases.
Google Shares Down 17% This Year
In the first quarter, the company repurchased $13 billion of Google stock vs. $13.5 billion in the December quarter and $12.6 billion in the September quarter.
“We continue to make considered investments in capex, R&D and talent to support long-term value creation for all stakeholders,” Alphabet Chief Financial Officer Ruth Porat said in the earnings release.
Heading into the Google earnings report, the stock had shed 17% in 2022 amid volatility in the Nasdaq. GOOGL stock holds a Relative Strength Rating of 57…
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