Google, or as it is more commonly known among the ‘e-tribe’- the face of the internet, is one of the biggest companies on the face of the Earth. Over time, it has grown to become a portal between the average joe and anything on the internet, where most people access websites through a Google search. Thus, 2020-21, a time where online has become the norm, it’s no surprise that Alphabet, Google’s parent company, is witnessing record breaking numbers.
The company has announced the financial results of the first quarter of 2021, and the balance sheet looks phenomenal. Alphabet witnessed a 34% year over year growth in revenue in Q1 2021, bringing in $55.31 billion , as opposed to $41.15 billion last year. This is a massive jump by any standards. However, the 34% number that we see is also a symptom of a less than ideal Q1 in 2020, when ad revenue had declined due to the COVID 19 pandemic.
Out of the total $55.31 billion, Google search, as one would expect, made up for the biggest chunk, reeling in a total of $31.88 billion. This is in contrast to $24.5 billion in Q1 2020. Moreover, Google network also grew over the quarter, and accounted for a total of $6.8 billion. Google Cloud, thanks to the massive shift to online that businesses took to continue operating, saw its revenue grow from $2.78 billion in last year to $4.05 billion in this year.
As far as advertising goes, the revenue from Google search, Google network and YouTube ads combined(which brought in $6.005 billion), stood at $44.69 billion, as opposed to $33.76 billion in Q1 2020.
Talking about YouTube, the platform witnessed a massive surge in popularity over the quarter. Not only did the ad revenue from the platform grew by 49% over the last year, its TikTok competitor Shorts is garnering 6.5 billion daily views, a significant increase from 3.5 billion at the end of January, according to Sundar Pichai.
This is a massive win for the platform, especially at a time where companies like Netflix are struggling due to the lack of new content.
The earnings came out to be about $26.29 per share, far above the $15.82 per share that was being expected by Wall Street analysts at Refinitiv.
Google, much like every other tech giant, is following work from home right now, and while India is still struggling from the second wave of COVID 19, a glimmer of hope in the form of reducing cases may cause offices to open up in USA. The company’s CFO Ruth Porat said “Even with a hybrid work environment, we will continue to need space, so we’re continuing to build out our campuses and office facilities.”
