This article first appeared on GuruFocus.
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) shares rose about 6% on early Thursday after the Google parent posted first-quarter results that beat Wall Street expectations and pointed to faster cloud growth.
Alphabet said revenue climbed 22% to $109.9 billion. Google Cloud sales jumped 63% to $20.03 billion, while YouTube ad revenue came in at $9.88 billion. Operating profit increased to $39.69 billion, helped by broad strength across search and advertising.
Chief Executive Sundar Pichai said AI spending is filtering through more parts of the business. Alphabet also said cloud backlog nearly doubled to more than $460 billion, giving it more visibility into future sales.
Alphabet also said net income rose 81% to $62.6 billion, aided by gains on equity holdings. The company said capital expenditures topped $35 billion in the quarter and may reach $190 billion in 2026, which could keep investors focused on how quickly the AI buildout turns into free cash flow.
