Nasdaq 100: Alphabet Jumps 4% on Earnings Surprise, Massive Buyback Ignites

Cloud Growth Slows but Margins Improve

Google Cloud’s revenue rose 28% year-over-year to $12.26 billion, just shy of expectations at $12.27 billion. While growth moderated from the previous quarter’s 30.1%, profitability improved sharply — cloud margins expanded to 17.8% from 9.4% a year ago. This shift signals stronger cost discipline and maturing infrastructure efficiency, important factors as Alphabet competes in the enterprise cloud market.

Earnings Surge on Higher Profitability and Investment Gains

Net income soared 46% to $34.54 billion, or $2.81 per share, crushing the consensus estimate of $2.01. Results included $8 billion in unrealized gains from non-marketable equity securities, tied to a private company investment. Core operational efficiency also contributed to the earnings beat, reinforcing Alphabet’s ability to generate strong cash flows amid uneven performance in smaller business units like Waymo and Verily, which posted a $1.23 billion operating loss.

Market Forecast: Bullish

Alphabet’s performance reinforces confidence in its core advertising model, even with soft patches in cloud and YouTube revenue. The sizeable buyback and dividend increase underscore management’s confidence in sustained cash generation.

With improving cloud margins and resilient ad demand, the stock outlook remains bullish in the short term, especially with investor appetite high for tech names showing profitability and capital return discipline.

More Information in our Economic Calendar.