Alphabet Inc Beats Earnings, Revenue Estimates

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Google parent company Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) released its fourth quarter earnings report after closing bell tonight, posting the very first results in the new reporting structure. The Internet giant reported adjusted earnings of $8.67 per share and $21.33 billion in revenue, an 18% year over year increase (or 24% in constant currencies). Analysts had been expecting earnings of $8.10 per share and $20.8 billion in revenue for the quarter. In the previous year’s fourth quarter, Google’s parent reported earnings of $6.76 per share and $18.1 billion in revenue.

Google finally breaks down results by segment

GAAP earnings were $7.06 per share, compared to last year’s $6.79 per share.

Google segment revenues grew 18% year over year to $21.18 billion with Google Websites revenue up 20% Google Network Members’ websites revenue up 7% and ad revenues up 17%. Paid clicks crew 31% year over year, while cost per click fell 13%. Traffic acquisition costs climbed from $3.6 billion in the fourth quarter of 2014 to $4 billion in the fourth quarter of 2015.

Alphabet only reported its Other Bets segment results in full year numbers, which include $448 million in revenue, compared to 2014’s $327 million. Operating losses, excluding SBC expenses, grew from $1.6 billion in 2014 to $3.07 billion in 2015. Including SBC expenses, operating losses climbed from $1.9 billion to $3.6 billion.

Alphabet shares surge in after-hours trades

“Our very strong revenue growth in Q4 reflects the vibrancy of our business, driven by mobile search as well as YouTube and programmatic advertising, all areas in which we’ve been investing for many years, Alphabet Chief Financial Officer Ruth Porat said in a statement. “We’re excited about the opportunities we have across Google and Other Bets to use technology to improve the lives of billions of people.”

In after-hours trading, Class A shares of Alphabet surged, climbing by as much as 7.43% to $828.05 per share, giving the company a market capitalization of $517.6 billion. During regular trading hours, Wall Street was buzzing about whether tonight’s earnings report would push the valuation of Google’s parent company above that of Apple, which is at around $538.7 billion. Not quite, Alphabet.

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