Google's Unexpected Surprise Earnings Amid 'COVID-19' Crisis... Q1 Revenue Hits 54 Trillion Won

Q1 Revenue of $44.1 Billion … 13% Increase Year-over-Year

Cloud and YouTube Ads Drive Performance

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jaehee] Google's Q1 performance this year has far exceeded market expectations, effectively dispelling concerns over COVID-19.

Alphabet, Google's parent company, announced on the 28th (local time) that its revenue from January to March reached $44.16 billion (approximately 54 trillion KRW). This surpassed Wall Street's forecast of $40.8 billion and marked a 13% increase compared to the same period last year. Operating profit also rose 21% from $6.6 billion in the previous year to $8 billion.

The standout sectors in the results were cloud and YouTube advertising. Cloud revenue increased 52% year-over-year to $2.78 billion, while YouTube ad revenue grew 33% to $4.04 billion.

However, earnings per share were $9.87, slightly below the expected $10.33.

Following the unexpectedly strong results, Alphabet's stock surged more than 4% in after-hours trading that day.

Sundar Pichai, Alphabet's CEO, stated, "People are relying on Google services more than ever."

Nevertheless, the prevailing view is that the impact of COVID-19 will be significantly reflected in Q2 results. Because of this, future performance outlooks are bleak. Morgan Stanley even forecasted that "online advertising revenue this year will decline more sharply than during the financial crisis."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.