Alphabet results beat forecasts, shares jump

The Nasdaq-listed firm, which posted results late on Thursday, said consolidated revenues were 12% higher in the three months to March end, at $90.2bn, ahead of the $89.12bn expected by analysts.

Net income jumped 46% at $34.5bn, while operating income comfortably beat Wall Street estimates for $28.7bn, up 20% at $30.6bn.

Much of the growth was fuelled by Alphabet’s core search and advertising business. Revenues jumped 10% at $50.7bn, beating forecasts for growth of between 8% and 9%. The division accounts for around 56% of group revenues.

Alphabet attributed much of the division’s performance to the increased use of artificial intelligence, through features such as AI Overviews. It claimed the feature, which provides unprompted AI-generated summaries of search results, had 1.5bn users per month.

Sundar Pichai, chief executive, said: “We’re pleased with our strong first quarter results, which reflect healthy growth and momentum across the business. Underpinning this growth is our unique full stack approach to AI.

“Search saw continued strong growth, boosted by the engagement we’re seeing with features like AI Overviews.”

As at 0915 BST, Alphabet’s New York-listed shares were up 6% in pre-market trading.

Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG, said: “The Magnificent Seven might not be the rock stars they were last year, but strong earnings from one of their number can still help buoy risk appetite.

"Alphabet’s latest numbers provided a boost, since the core business remains solid, though like so many other businesses the impact of tariffs has yet to come through.”

Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “Alphabet is still king of search, and despite a cloud of pessimism over internet stocks ahead of earnings, this was a s strong all-round performance.

“Google Search held on to double-digit growth, even as debates rage on about what the future of search looks like in the age of AI.”