From Investing.com: 2024-04-26 02:10:59

Alphabet announces its first-ever dividend and a $70 billion stock buyback, causing a 16% surge in after-hours trading. The tech giant is returning capital while investing heavily in data centers for generative artificial intelligence. The dividend will be 20 cents per share. Meta Platforms recently announced its own first dividend, lifting the company’s market value by $196 billion the next day. Amazon.com is the only Big Tech firm not offering a dividend. Alphabet beat expectations for the quarter in sales, profit, and advertising. After-hours surge increases Alphabet’s market value to over $2 trillion. CEO Sundar Pichai touts Google’s AI offerings in core search results. Revenue for the quarter was $80.54 billion, beating estimates. First-quarter revenue was boosted by cloud service demand and AI adoption. Google Cloud revenue grew by 28% in the first quarter due to generative AI tools. Operating margin in 2024 expected to increase despite surge in capital expenditures. Google continues to work on addressing issues with AI-powered chatbot, Gemini.



Read more at Investing.com: Google parent announces first-ever dividend; beats on sales, profit; shares soar By Reuters