Google-parent
Alphabet snatched Apple’s crown as the world’s most valuable firm based on the
value of shares that leapt with better-than-expected earnings.
At the
official close of trade, Alphabet was worth $530.1 billion based on its share
value, compared to $534.7 billion for Apple, but shares in the Internet search
colossus soared in after-hours trading to reach $791 shortly before 0400 GMT.
If
those gains hold in official trading when the Nasdaq opens in New York City
today, Alphabet would officially overtake Apple as the world’s biggest company
by market value.
Alphabet’s
reported quarterly profit rose 5 per cent to $4.92 billion on the back of
strong online advertising revenue, particularly from searches done by holiday
season shoppers using smartphones or tablets.
“This
holiday season, we found that shopping moments replaced shopping marathons,”
Google chief executive Sundar Pichai said during an earnings call.
People
made purchases online when time allowed, with Google powering many of their
searches and serving up related ads.
Google
ad revenue climbed globally, gaining on both mobile devices and desktop
computers, according to Alphabet chief financial officer Ruth Porat.
The
California-based Internet colossus said its revenue topped $21.3 billion in the
final three months of last year.
Prime
revenue drivers in Q4 were mobile search ads and ads on YouTube, where people
watch “hundreds of millions” of hours of video daily.
Porat
said the strong revenue growth was a return on years of investment in mobile
search, YouTube and so—called programmatic advertising, which involves ads
being sold automatically using software.
The
earnings report was the first in which recently formed parent corporation
Alphabet separated money made by Google from what it calls “Other Bets” such as
its work on self—driving cars or delivering Internet using high-altitude
balloons.
The new
structure under Alphabet is expected to offer more transparency for investors
worried about Google investing in money-losing projects.
“Essentially,
what they have now is a big advertising business and a venture capital
business,” Forrester analyst Frank Gillett said of the new earnings
presentation.
Agencies
No comments:
Post a Comment