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Google parent Alphabet reported second-quarter earnings after market close Wednesday that surpassed Wall Street’s expectations, as the company cited a boost from its cloud and search business ahead of a looming antitrust ruling that could force a sale of its Chrome browser.
Economists forecasted double-digit increases for Alphabet’s top and bottom lines.
Alphabet had $96.4 billion in revenue and $2.31 earnings per share through Q2, ahead of analyst forecasts of $94 billion and $2.18 EPS, according to FactSet.
That accounts for a year-over-year increase of 14% for revenue and a 22% jump for EPS.
The company reported $13.6 billion in revenue from its Google Cloud business, a year-over-year increase of 32%, well above expectations of up to 27% growth, and $54.1 billion in search revenue, slightly ahead of projections of up to $54 billion.
Wednesday’s report follows Alphabet’s better-than-expected Q1 release earlier this year, in which the company reported year-over-year growth of 12% and 49% for its top and bottom lines, respectively, after Google’s search unit generated more in sales than analysts projected.
Alphabet will host its second-quarter earnings call through a livestream on YouTube starting at 4:30 p.m. EDT.
A few economists have mixed expectations for Alphabet’s stock, citing a federal judge's ruling next month about what steps Google must take after the company was found to have held an illegal monopoly in search. The Justice Department has requested Google be forced to sell its Chrome browser and make sweeping changes to how search works on its Android mobile operating system, though Google has criticized the DOJ’s proposal as pursuing a “radical interventionist agenda that would harm Americans and America’s global technology leadership.” Analysts from Cantor Fitzgerald maintained a “neutral” rating for Alphabet’s stock until they “gain clarity” on Google’s antitrust ruling. Bank of America raised its target for the stock from $200 to $210 in a note last week, adding the ruling is the “question everyone would like to ask, but Google can’t answer at this time.”
Shares of Alphabet are nearly unchanged on the year after recovering from a sharp decline between February and April. The company has lagged behind other “Magnificent Seven” stocks and the S&P 500, as investors expressed concerns about Google’s competition in the search engine market. The company has rolled out several AI products through its second quarter, however, including a smart glasses partnership with Warby Parker, a venture fund to invest in AI startups and Google testing its “AI Mode” for Google Search. OpenAI earlier this month added Google to its list of suppliers as the AI firm said it would use Google’s cloud infrastructure for ChatGPT. Alphabet has also announced developments with its self-driving car unit Waymo, which the company said would soon expand to New York.
Apple and Tesla, which also reported earnings after market close Wednesday, are the first stocks among the “Magnificent Seven” to release Q2 reports. Meta and Microsoft will report second-quarter earnings on July 30, followed by Amazon and Apple on July 31 and Nvidia on Aug. 27. All of the firms were projected to post a combined earnings growth of 14% in the second quarter, according to FactSet.