Alphabet: Google’s parent soars, with quarterly revenue increasing 19%, and profit hitting $9.9 billion
Google parent Alphabet beat analyst expectations for the second quarter Thursday, pleasing investors and sending its shares up sharply.
The Mountain View company brought in revenue of $38.9 billion during the quarter, a 19% bump from the same period last year. The company reported profit of $14.21 per share, or $9.9 billion during the quarter, nearly triple what it made last year when it paid a $5.1 billion European Commission fine.
Analysts polled by FactSet were expecting Alphabet to report earnings per share of $11.10 on revenue of $38.2 billion during the second quarter.
The stock rose more than 8% in afterhours trading after the earnings report was released.
The company did not disclose anything about federal regulatory concerns in its quarterly report — unlike Facebook, which said Wed
nesday that the Federal Trade Commission is investigating it for antitrust concerns.
Google is facing mounting pressure from federal elected officials and regulators over a variety of issues including its market power, misinformation and claims — usually offered without evidence — that its popular search engine and other services are biased against conservative politicians and viewpoints.
The company has repeatedly denied those claims.
On Thursday, the campaign for Democratic presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard sued Google, alleging the company improperly suspended her advertising account after the first presidential debate. The lawsuit claims the company “silenced” her.
Advertising accounts are suspended automatically in certain cases, including when huge spending changes occur, said Google spokesman Jose Castaneda.
“We are proud to offer ad products that help campaigns connect directly with voters, and we do so without bias toward any party or political ideology,” he said in a statement.
Google is also reportedly under scrutiny from the Justice Department, which announced it would investigate big tech companies for anticompetitive monopoly behavior.
The department didn’t name specific companies, but scrutiny has recently focused on Google, Apple, Amazon and Facebook.