Alphabet’s share price increases 5.5%

<p>Shares of Alphabet rose nearly 5.5 per cent at the start of trading Wednesday, driven by stronger-than-expected second-quarter earnings and marked year-over-year growth in cloud computing revenue.</p>, <p>According to CNBC, the company recently reported adjusted earnings per share of $1.44, more than the $1.34 expected by a Refinitiv survey of analysts. Revenue for the second quarter came in at $74.6bn, beating a consensus estimate of $72.82bn.</p>, <p>But it was strong growth in cloud computing that stood out the most, with the company reporting $8.03 billion in Google Cloud sales, compared to a StreetAccount consensus of $7.87bn. Google Cloud competes with Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure.</p>, <p>Google’s cloud unit reported its second consecutive quarter of operating profit, with second period operating income of $395 million, compared to a $590m loss in the year-ago quarter.</p>, <p>“While questions will remain about AI’s impact on core products (e.g. if such a shift can be disruptive over the short-term) or costs structure (e.g. if computing costs per search will rise), we see Alphabet as the leader in compounded AI investment in the past 5-6 years and well positioned to capitalize on this trend in the coming decade,” Goldman Sachs analyst Eric Sheridan said.</p>, <p>The company also announced Wednesday that chief financial officer Ruth Porat would assume a newly created president and chief investment officer position. Porat will remain in the role until a successor is identified, the company said in a press release.</p>