Alphabet, the parent company of Google and YouTube, last Thursday, April 24, published financial results of its activities in the first quarter of 2025, which exceeded analysts’ preliminary expectations regarding the dynamic of the relevant indicators and became a factor of favorable impact on the shares of the technology giant.
Against the background of the mentioned information, the value of Alphabet’s stocks showed an increase of more than 5% during after-hours trading. This growth was recorded on Thursday. On Friday, April 25th, Alphabet’s stock gained 2%.
The overall revenue of the technology giant for January-March of the current year was recorded at the $90.23 billion mark. This indicator showed an increase of 12% compared to the reading for the same period last year. The consensus forecast of analysts surveyed by LSEG predicted that Alphabet’s overall revenue for the first three months of 2025 would reach $89.12 billion.
Earnings per share amounted to $2.81. At the same time, the consensus forecast of analysts surveyed by LSEG predicted that this figure would reach $2.01.
The information published on Thursday indicates that Alphabet’s search and advertising units continue to show steady growth. It is worth noting that the corresponding positive stability is observed despite the significant intensification of competition related to the development and deployment of artificial intelligence.
YouTube advertising revenue for January-March of the current year was recorded at the $8.93 billion mark. For the same period in 2024, the corresponding figure was $8.09 billion. StreetAccount forecasted that this reading would reach $8.97 billion in the first quarter of 2025.
Overall, Alphabet’s advertising generated revenue of $66.89 billion in January-March of the current year. This indicator showed an increase of 8.5% compared to the reading recorded in the first quarter of 2024.
The Alphabet’s Search and Other segment generated revenue of $50.7 billion in January-March of the current year. This indicator increased by 9.8% compared to the result for the first quarter of 2024. The technology giant also revealed that its AI Overviews, an artificial intelligence tool placed at the top of Google’s search results page, has 1.5 billion monthly users. It’s worth noting that in October, this figure was 1 billion.
Philipp Schindler, Google’s business chief, stated that the company is not immune to the macro environment. Also in this context, it was noted that the decision of the President of the United States, Donald Trump, to end the de minimis trade loophole next month will provoke a slight headwind to the firm’s Ads business in 2025, primarily from retailers from the Asia-Pacific region.
It is worth clarifying that the de minimis trade exemption allows shipments worth less than $800 to enter the United States duty-free. This opportunity was actively used by Chinese e-commerce platforms Temu and Shein, which actively spent on online advertising. The mentioned exception is slated to close on May 2.
Philipp Schindler stated that Google has a lot of experience in management in uncertain times, and the company is focused on helping its customers by providing deep insights into changes in consumer behavior that are relevant to their business. It was also noted that healthcare, finance, retail, and travel were among the top industries advertising with the firm, which contributed to revenue growth.
Alphabet’s net income for January-March of the current year was recorded at the $34.54 billion mark. This indicator showed an increase of 46% compared to the reading for the same period in 2024. The technology giant noted that the mentioned figure includes $8 billion in unrealized gains on its nonmarketable equity securities related to Alphabet’s investment in a private company.
The technology giant’s cloud computing business revenue for January-March of the current year was recorded at the $12.26 billion mark. This indicator showed an increase of 28% compared to the reading for the same period in 2024. StreetAccount forecasted that the revenue of the mentioned Alphabet’s business for the first quarter of 2025 would reach $12.27 billion.
Last month, the technology giant made the largest acquisition in its history. In this case, it is implied that the company agreed to buy Wiz for $32 billion in cash. It’s worth noting that last year, the technology giant offered the mentioned startup almost $10 billion less for the specified deal. The company expects the acquisition of Wiz to be completed in 2026, subject to regulatory approvals. This startup will help Google to bolster its cloud unit’s security offerings.
Alphabet chief executive officer Sundar Pichai said that the mentioned acquisition will help the company to spur more multi-cloud computing, something customers want.
The technology giant Other Bets segment generated revenue of $450 million in January-March of the current year. This indicator showed a decrease of 9% compared to the reading recorded in the first quarter of 2024. It’s worth clarifying that the mentioned segment includes the Waymo self-driving car unit and the life sciences unit Verily. This business of the technology giant lost $1.23 billion in the first quarter of 2025, up from $1.02 billion in the same period of 2024.
Data released by Alphabet shows that Waymo currently provides more than 250,000 fully autonomous paid rides per week in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Austin. It is worth noting that in February the corresponding figure was 200,000, before the opening of the service in Austin and the broader San Francisco Bay area.
Alphabet chief financial officer Anat Ashkenazi said that Waymo is continuing to progress in building on its impressive technological achievements to scale rapidly and develop a sustainable business model. She also noted that the company still plans to invest about $75 billion in capital expenditures in 2025, but stipulated that the level of financial injections may fluctuate from quarter to quarter due to the impact of changes in the timing of deliveries and construction schedules. Moreover, Anat Ashkenazi stated that Alphabet is focused on driving efficiency and productivity throughout the organization.
Besides, the technology giant stated its board authorized it to repurchase an additional $70 billion in shares, as it did a year ago.
Sundar Pichai said the company plans to continue consolidating teams and cutting back on costs. According to him, this will help to have a more resilient organization, regardless of macroeconomic conditions.
