Following from the spectacular Q4 earnings, the shares of Alphabet the parent body of Google, spiked upwards about 8% making it a market cap of $558billion and passing Apple which sits at a market cap of $535 billion.
According to CNBC, the last time Google was more valuable than Apple was in February 2010, when both companies were worth less than $200 billion.
According to Ruth Porat, CFO of Alphabet “Our very strong revenue growth in Q4 reflects the vibrancy of our business, driven by mobile search as well as YouTube and programmatic advertising, all areas in which we’ve been investing for many years. We’re excited about the opportunities we have across Google and Other Bets to use technology to improve the lives of billions of people.”
Here are the most important numbers:
- Q4 adjusted earnings per share (EPS): $8.67 vs. analyst expectations of $8.09.
- Q4 Revenue: $21.32 billion vs. analyst expectations of $20.77 billion — and up 18% year-over-year.
- Net Income: $4.92 billion, or $7.06 a share, versus $4.68 billion, or $6.79 a share, in the same period a year earlier.
- Revenue rose 18%, to $21.33 billion, up from $18.1 billion a year earlier.
For the first time, Alphabet reported reported revenue, operating income and other metrics for both its main Google business and for a group of moonshots it calls “Other Bets,”
The “Other Bets” unit such as Google Cars, e.t.c posted an operating loss, excluding stock expenses, of $3.1 billion, nearly double the $1.6 billion loss in 2014. Revenue at those units, which includes its Nest home-automation unit, its Fiber high-speed Internet service and its Verily health-care subsidiary, rose 37%, to $448 million, from $327 million. In 2013, the moonshot units generated just $12 million in revenue.
