Technology

Are Alphabet's Earnings Really That Bad?

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When Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) released its second-quarter financial results after the markets closed on Monday, the tech giant said that it had $10.13 in earnings per share (EPS) and $38.30 billion in revenue. That compared with consensus estimates of $8.34 in EPS and $37.36 billion in revenue, and the $14.21 per share and $38.94 billion reported in the same period of last year.

Revenues were driven this quarter by a gradual improvement of the company’s ad business and strong growth in the Google Cloud and Other Revenues.

The Google segment posted second-quarter revenues of $21.32 billion, down from $23.64 billion a year ago. YouTube ad revenues increased 5.8% year over year to $3.81 billion and Google Cloud increased 43.2% to $3.01 billion.

In the second quarter, year-over-year traffic acquisition costs paid to Google Network members decreased by 7.5%. Total traffic acquisition costs fell from $7.24 billion to $6.69 billion.

Alphabet did not offer any guidance in the report. However, the consensus estimates call for $10.75 in EPS and $41.52 billion in revenue for the third quarter.

The board of directors authorized the company to repurchase up to an additional $28.0 billion of its Class C stock. The repurchase timeline was not specified.

On the books, cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities totaled $121.08 billion at the end of the quarter, versus $119.68 billion at the end of the fiscal 2019 full year.

Shares of Alphabet closed Thursday at $1,531.45, in a 52-week range of $1,013.54 to $1,586.99. The consensus price target is $1,619.13. Following the announcement, the stock was relatively flat at $1,531.03 in the after-hours trading session.

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