Tue Oct 29 21:39:22 UTC 2024: ## Google’s Cloud Growth Fuels Strong Q3 Earnings, Stock Surges 6%

**Mountain View, CA** – Google’s parent company, Alphabet, reported strong third-quarter earnings Tuesday, exceeding analyst expectations on both revenue and earnings per share. The company’s stock surged 6% in after-hours trading, driven by robust growth in its cloud computing business.

Alphabet reported earnings per share of $2.12 on revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter ending September 30. This represents a 37% increase in profit and 15% increase in sales compared to the same period last year. Analysts had anticipated earnings per share of $1.83 on revenue of $86.44 billion.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai highlighted the strong performance of the cloud unit, noting its growing customer base and larger deals fueled by the company’s AI portfolio. Cloud revenue reached $11.4 billion, up 35% year-over-year and exceeding expectations.

“This business has real momentum, and the overall opportunity is increasing as customers embrace gen-AI,” said Pichai.

The company plans to invest heavily in AI and data infrastructure in the coming years, with CFO Anat Ashkenazi announcing $13 billion in capital expenditures for the current quarter.

Google’s strong cloud performance comes as competitors like Microsoft and Amazon are also expanding their cloud businesses and investing heavily in AI infrastructure.

However, Google also faces competition on its core search business with the emergence of AI-powered chatbots. Meta is reportedly developing its own search engine powered by its Meta AI chatbot, posing a potential threat to Google’s dominance in the search market.

Google is responding by expanding its AI search tools, framing them as enhancing the user experience. Their AI Overviews feature, offering concise answers to user queries, has reached 1 billion monthly users.

“People are asking longer and more complex questions, and exploring a wider range of websites,” said Pichai. “What’s particularly exciting is that this growth actually increases over time as people learn that Google can answer more of their questions.”

Google’s strong earnings report sets the stage for other Big Tech companies, including Meta, Microsoft, Amazon, and Apple, who are expected to release their quarterly results this week.

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