Alphabet, the parent company of Google, announced a better-than-expected earnings report on Thursday, with first-quarter revenue topping $80.5 billion, higher than the $78.75 billion expected by analysts. The company also announced it first quarterly cash divided of 20 cents per share, which will be paid on June 17 to shareholders of record as of June 10, along with a $70 billion share buyback. Following the announcement, Alphabet’s stock surged as high as 13% during after-hours trading.
First-quarter success can be attributed to Google’s investment in artificial intelligence, including its Gemini suite of AI products, said CEO Sundar Pichai. “We are well under way with our Gemini era and there’s great momentum across the company,” he said. “Our leadership in AI research and infrastructure, and our global product footprint, position us well for the next wave of AI innovation.”
Other tech companies had both good and not-so-good days on the market. Meta shared better-than-expected earnings on Wednesday, but its shares fell after the company increased its annual expense forecast to pay for AI initiatives. Snap, the parent company of Snapchat, reported a 21% increase in earnings from a year ago and saw an after-hours trading climb.
