Google-parent Alphabet is surging after its earnings report (GOOGL)

pulse

April 23, 2018 9:16 PM

The search giant beat analyst expectations for earnings and revenue.

The stock is surging after-hours.

Shares of Alphabet, the parent company of Google, surged as much as 2% after the company reported first quarter earnings that beat expectations.

For the first quarter of 2018, the search engine giant posted adjusted earnings of $13.33 per share where analysts had expected $9.30, on revenues (ex-traffic acquisition costs) of $24.9 billion, where analysts had expected $24.5 billion.

"Our ongoing strong revenue growth reflects our momentum globally, up 26% versus the first quarter of 2017 and 23% on a constant currency basis to $31.1 billion," said CFO Ruth Porat in a press release. "We have a clear set of exciting opportunities ahead, and our strong growth enables us to invest in them with confidence."

Shares of Alphabet are flat for 2018 so far as worries about online privacy and regulatory risks weigh on the stock.

"If there is structural risk rising to the leading Internet Platforms, it is likely to come from government," RBC Capital Markets analyst Mark Mahaney said in a note ahead of the earnings report. "And that risk does seem to be rising. Based on numerous discussions with investors, we believe the market may be under-appreciating the regulatory risk facing GOOGL."

pulse