Alphabet earnings crush estimates as cloud business expands

Profit and revenue soar past forecasts as Google Cloud's momentum builds

Alphabet, the parent company of Google, reported better-than-expected earnings for the first quarter of 2023, driven by strong growth in its cloud computing business.

Revenue for the quarter came in at $68.01 billion, up 22% year-over-year and beating analysts' estimates of $67.96 billion. Net income was $16.44 billion, or $24.62 per share, compared to $16.34 billion, or $23.55 per share, in the same period last year.

Cloud revenue surges

Google Cloud revenue grew 36% year-over-year to $6.87 billion, driven by demand for its infrastructure and platform services.

The growth in Google Cloud's infrastructure business, which includes its Compute Engine, Cloud Storage, and Kubernetes Engine products, was particularly strong.

Meanwhile, the platform business, which includes Google's BigQuery, Cloud AI Platform, and Apigee products, also saw solid growth.

Other businesses perform well

Google's other businesses also performed well in the quarter.

Advertising revenue grew 16% year-over-year to $54.66 billion, driven by strong growth in search and YouTube advertising.

YouTube revenue grew 15% year-over-year to $7.01 billion, driven by growth in advertising and subscription revenue.

Outlook

Alphabet said it expects revenue growth to continue in the coming quarters, driven by its continued investment in cloud computing and artificial intelligence.

The company also said it expects to continue to invest in its other businesses, including search, YouTube, and hardware.

Conclusion

Alphabet's strong earnings report is a testament to the company's continued growth and diversification.

The company's cloud computing business is a major growth driver, and the company's other businesses are also performing well.

Alphabet is well-positioned to continue to grow in the coming years.