Google parent’s profit soars 24%

Business is booming at Google’s parent company, Alphabet Inc., even as it loses billions of dollars on kooky-sounding projects that may never produce any revenue.

Most of the losses are concentrated in Alphabet’s “X” lab, a wellspring of far-out ideas that Google co-founder Sergey Brin launched about six years ago. The lab is responsible for projects such as Google’s self-driving cars that matured into potentially revolutionary technology.

The X lab is believed to account for the majority of the losses in the “Other Bets” segment of Alphabet’s financial statement. Its second-quarter earnings report, released Thursday, showed an operating loss of $859 million in Other Bets, widening from a $660-million loss a year ago. It’s the second consecutive quarter in which losses have deepened. Last year, Other Bets lost $3.6 billion.

Mountain View, Calif.-based Alphabet can afford to gamble because Google runs the world’s most profitable advertising network, spread across its dominant search engine, YouTube video site and Gmail, as well as millions of third-party websites that draw upon its marketing machine.

Powered by Google, Alphabet earned $4.9 billion during the April-through-June quarter, up 24% from the same quarter last year. After subtracting ad commissions, Alphabet’s revenue climbed 22% to $17.5 billion.