Google’s parent Alphabet reports strong earnings

By: Nicolas V.

Google parent company Alphabet delivered a strong earnings report Monday, beating expectations on profits and revenue — but the company’s stock sank on skyrocketing spending on small-project development.

The Mountain View, Calif., search giant reported earnings per share of $12.77, exceeding Wall Street’s forecast $10.82.

Alphabet took in $39.3 billion in revenue, against analyst forecasts of $38.9 billion — representing a 23 percent year-over-year growth.

Revenue from advertising, which is Alphabet’s bread and butter, remained steady, growing 20 percent year-over-year, to $32.6 billion.

Alphabet’s traffic acquisition costs — such as the fee it pays Apple to be the default browser on the iPhone — clocked in at $7.4 billion, just under Wall Street’s predicted $7.6 billion and a 15 percent jump from last year.

Alphabet’s “other bets,” which encompass non-Google companies such as self-driving car startup Waymo and smart-home company Nest, lost $1.3 billion compared with just under $750 million in the year-ago quarter.

The company also announced that its head count is now just shy of 99,000, up nearly 20 percent from last year.

Chief Executive Sundar Pichai said during the earnings call that Google remains on track to begin opening its new New York City campus in 2020.

Shares of Alphabet were down 2.8 percent after hours, trading at $1,109.50.