Google’s parent company Alphabet Inc has announced a 28% increase in net income to US$26.536 billion for the fourth quarter (Q4) of the 2024 financial year (FY24).
Alphabet said earnings per share surged 31% to $2.15 in Q4 as revenue rose 12% year to $96.5 billion, reflecting robust momentum across the business.
Across FY24, net income jumped 36% to $110.118 billion and diluted EPS soared 39% to $8.04 as revenue increased 14% to $350.018 billion.
“Q4 was a strong quarter driven by our leadership in AI (artificial intelligence) and momentum across the business,” CEO Sundar Pichai said in a media release.
Google Services Q4 revenue increased 10% to $84.1 billion, reflecting strong momentum across Google Search and YouTube ads, while Google Cloud revenue increased 30% to $12.0 billion, led by growth in Google Cloud Platform (GCP) across core GCP products, AI Infrastructure, and Generative AI Solutions.
Pichai said Google was building, testing, and launching products and models faster than ever, and making significant progress in compute and driving efficiencies.
He said advances like AI Overviews and Circle to Search were increasing user engagement in search, customer demand was stronger in the AI-powered Google Cloud portfolio, and YouTube continued leader in streaming watchtime and podcasts.
Cloud and YouTube finished 2024 with an annual revenue run rate of $110 billion.
“Our results show the power of our differentiated full-stack approach to AI innovation and the continued strength of our core businesses,” he said.
“We are confident about the opportunities ahead, and to accelerate our progress, we expect to invest approximately $75 billion in capital expenditures in 2025.”
Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG) shares dropped in after-hours trading as the market digested the result with Q4 EPS above expectations of $2.13 but revenue a little below forecasts.
The share price closed $5.07 (2.50%) higher at $207.71 before easing back to $190.40 after the market had closed, capitalising the technology giant at $2.53 trillion.
