Wall Street analysts expect Alphabet's Q1 revenue to reach 78.79 billion US dollars, up 13% from 69.79 billion US dollars in the same period last year; net profit is expected to reach 18.89 billion US dollars, up 26% from 15.05 billion US dollars in the same period last year; earnings per share are expected to be 1.51 US dollars, compared to 1.17 US dollars in the same period last year.
Google parent company$Alphabet-A (GOOGL.US)$Financial results for the first quarter of 2024 will be announced after the US stock market on Thursday. Wall Street analysts expect Alphabet's Q1 revenue to reach 78.79 billion US dollars, up 13% from 69.79 billion US dollars in the same period last year; net profit is expected to reach 18.89 billion US dollars, up 26% from 15.05 billion US dollars in the same period last year; earnings per share are expected to be 1.51 US dollars, compared to 1.17 US dollars in the same period last year.
Investors will keep a close eye on the continued growth of Alphabet's cloud business. After a period of slow growth, Google's cloud business grew sharply in the fourth quarter of 2023 — cloud business revenue increased 25.7% year over year to US$9.2 billion, easing investors' concerns about the stagnation of the business.
CFRA analysts said that after Google's cloud business resumed a 25% growth rate in the fourth quarter of last year, they believe “the cloud business will grow at least 25% year over year in the first quarter,” and they expect this growth rate to continue throughout 2024. However, analysts added that profit margins are also key because Google has failed to cut costs as actively as other big tech companies.
Bank of America analysts expect Google Cloud's first-quarter revenue to reach $9.34 billion. Analysts said the strong performance of the business and the month-on-month rise in profit margins could be beneficial to Alphabet.
Alphabet's progress in artificial intelligence (AI) is also one of investors' concerns. As big tech companies strive to take their place in the AI craze, Alphabet's latest information to investors on its AI progress will be in the spotlight.
Many big tech companies are developing their own AI chips, which can help them manage costs while reducing their dependence on Nvidia. Microsoft, Amazon, and Meta are all developing their own AI chips. Earlier this month, Alphabet launched a new CPU “Google Axion” designed for data centers and customized based on the ARM architecture to reduce the operating costs of cloud computing.
CFRA analysts said they saw “incremental opportunities related to AI monetization” that Alphabet obtained through cloud computing, search, YouTube and other businesses. Bank of America analysts said that AI is Alphabet's “tailwind”. “Although the use of AI does pose long-term competitive risks to Google, Google may see improvements in AI monetization by 2024.”
Editor/Jeffrey