Google Cloud delivered one of the rarest combinations in Big Tech — faster growth and wider profitability at the same time.
Revenue surged 82% to nearly $25 billion last quarter, while operating margin — the share of sales left after running the business — climbed to nearly 36%.
Just over three years ago, Google Cloud was losing money.
Since turning profitable in early 2023, the business has moved quickly in the opposite direction. Revenue growth accelerated from 28% at the beginning of last year to 48%, then 63%, and now 82%. Profitability rose with it.
Usually, growth this fast comes with a hefty bill for winning customers and adding capacity. As the chart shows, Google Cloud is doing the opposite — keeping more of each sales dollar even as business accelerates.
Alphabet (GOOGL, GOOG) said the gains stretched across the computing power companies rent to build AI, the software used to deploy it, and traditional cloud products such as databases, storage, and cybersecurity.
CEO Sundar Pichai said that revenue in the business rose to 82% growth “driven by demand for AI infrastructure and AI solutions.”
Cloud supplied nearly half of Alphabet’s additional revenue from a year ago and almost two-thirds of its added operating profit. It is no longer a costly side project attached to Google’s advertising empire.
The growth also made a dent in Google Cloud’s enormous sales backlog.
Google Cloud finished the quarter with $514 billion in backlog — revenue customers have committed to but which Alphabet has not yet recorded. That rose by $52 billion from the previous quarter.
But revenue grew even more quickly. As the chart below shows, the backlog fell from nearly six years of annualized Cloud sales to just over five.
Some of those commitments now include direct sales of Google’s TPU systems, making the backlog less predictable than a stack of recurring software subscriptions. But the quarter still showed Google recording more promised business without sacrificing profit.
The results help explain why Alphabet keeps spending even as its AI bill has exploded. Capital expenditures doubled to nearly $45 billion, pushing quarterly free cash flow below zero.
Google just raised the bar for the AI trade. The rest of Big Tech now needs to show that record spending can produce the same rare combination — faster growth and wider profits.
Jared Blikre is the global markets and data editor for Yahoo Finance. Follow him on X at @SPYJared or email him at jaredblikre@yahooinc.com.
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