Alphabet Q3 results beat analyst estimates as cloud revenue soars; shares jump

Investing.com — Google owner Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) reported third-quarter results that topped Wall Street estimates as the search giant’s advertising revenue climbed, easing concerns about the threat of competition from artificial intelligence search products.   

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) jumped more than 6% in early US trading Wednesday. 

The company reported earnings of $2.12 per share on revenue of $88.27 billion. That compared with expectations for earnings of $1.84 per share on revenue of $86.37 billion.

The beat on the top and bottom lines comes as revenue in its core advertising business grew. 

Advertising revenue rose to $65.85 billion in the third quarter from $59.65 billion in the prior-year period, with YouTube advertising revenue rising to $8.92 billion from $7.95 billion.

Google Cloud revenue jumped 35% year-over-year to $11.35 billion from $8.41 billion in the period-year period, above consensus estimates. 

In a post-earnings note, Jefferies analysts said Alphabet delivered a “gem of a quarter.”

“AI feels increasingly like a well-managed tailwind, improving effectiveness of ads, drawing in Cloud customers, and driving internal efficiencies,” analysts led by Brent Thill said in the note.

The investment bank raised the price target on the stock from $220 to $235.

Separately, analysts at Mizuho Securities said they remain “structurally positive” on Google stock thanks to its strategic positioning in AI to the edge device.

However, the firm believes stock multiples will “likely remain in a holding pattern in the short-term due to ongoing regulatory headlines and competitive concerns.”

Yasin Ebrahim contributed to this report.