Google tops Wall Street forecasts

GOOGLE owner Alphabet batted off recent clashes with European regulators to post second-quarter results which topped expectations, sending its shares surging in after-hours trade.

Excluding the €4.34bn (£3.9bn) fine handed down from the European Commission last week, Alphabet’s earnings per share came in at $11.75, up from $8.90 a year earlier. Revenue jumped 26pc to $32.7m, a beat on the $32.17m analysts had been expecting, driven by a 24pc rise in advertising revenue and a 37pc increase in “other revenue”, which includes its cloud division.

Shares rocketed more than 4pc in after-hours trade, as the market welcomed the strong results.

The results are likely to see Alphabet gain on Amazon and Apple in the race to become the first trillion dollar company, having closed last night with a market capitalisation of $841bn.

It has been trailing its tech rivals over the past year in terms of share price growth, coming as the biggest laggard among the FANG stocks.

Its shares are up just 15pc since the start of the year, behind Amazon’s 54pc growth and Netflix’s 88pc increase.