From Yahoo Finance: 2025-04-24 16:05:00

Alphabet, Google’s parent company, reported strong first-quarter profit and revenue, reassuring investors that AI investments are driving returns in its ad business. The company plans to buy back $70 billion in stock, pushing shares up 4% and adding $75 billion to its market value.

Despite fears of economic uncertainty from Trump’s trade policy, Alphabet reaffirmed its ambitious AI build-out plans and backed its $75 billion capex guidance for the year. This news also boosted shares of Meta and Amazon in aftermarket trading.

Google’s mainstay ad business revenue rose 8.5% to $66.89 billion in the quarter, surpassing analysts’ expectations. However, the company acknowledged that it is not immune to macroeconomic uncertainty, citing changes to trade rules as a potential headwind.

The integration of AI into Google search is driving revenue growth, with CEO Sundar Pichai highlighting the popularity of AI Overviews and the addition of an AI-only mode to search. Google Cloud reported a 28% revenue increase to $12.26 billion, slightly below analyst expectations.

Alphabet reported total revenue of $90.23 billion for the first quarter, beating analysts’ estimates. The company also reported a profit of $2.81 per share, higher than expected, and announced a 5% increase in its quarterly dividend to 21 cents per share. Capital expenditures rose 43% year-over-year to $17.20 billion.

Read more: Google says deep AI investments powering ad sales, soothing anxious investors