The Japan Times - Google parent Alphabet profit soars on ads and cloud

Google remains a centerpiece of online activity, with offerings such as its search engine, ad marketplace and YouTube video platform that give it extensive global influence.

The tech giant had a net income of $20.6 billion on revenue that grew 32 percent to $75 billion in the final quarter of 2021, ending the year with a total of $76 billion in profit.

That was nearly double the $40 billion annual profit reported for 2020.

Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai cited "strong growth in our advertising business... a quarterly sales record for our Pixel phones despite supply constraints, and our Cloud business continuing to grow strongly" for the success.

Alphabet strong earnings come after Apple, another pandemic-era winner, reported record revenue.

"We are slowly seeing a changing narrative take shape for the tech sector as the bullish...guidance by tech stalwarts Microsoft and Apple last week set a positive tone for the Street heading into this week," Wedbush analysts said ahead of Alphabet's earnings release.

Apple reported record $124 billion quarterly revenue on Thursday, despite a global chip pinch and shifting impacts of the pandemic that have weighed down other big tech players.

The expectations-beating results offered positive signals even as diminishing growth shadowed firms like lockdown lifestyle champ Netflix.

The streaming giant lost tens of billions of dollars in market capitalization last month after projecting growth of just 2.5 million subscribers in the first quarter -- its slowest expansion since 2010 and a big downshift from the 55 million subscribers over the last two years as Covid-19 transformed daily life.

Fortunes were quite different for Google, with Alphabet saying its board had approved a 20-to-1 stock split that would make shares more affordable to small investors.

The stock rose mopre than 7 percent in after-market trades Tuesday to $2,995.

"Our investments have helped us drive this growth by delivering the services that people, our partners and businesses need, and we continue to invest in long-term opportunities," Ruth Porat, CFO of Alphabet, said in the earnings report.

K.Tanaka--JT