Alphabet Shares Racing To The $1,000 Mark

The unstoppable Alphabet (Nasdaq: GOOG) appears to be moving fast to break the $1000 a share price tag. Its consistently stellar performance has helped drive its market cap north of the $600 billion market cap level for the first time. And, it doesn’t look like the growth will slow down soon. According to eMarketer, US digital ad spending will increase 16% this year to $83 billion and Alphabet and Facebook will continue to claim the largest share in the industry. Alphabet’s overall share of digital ad spending is estimated to be 40.7% this year compared with Facebook’s 19%.

Photo Credit: Alli/Flickr.com

Alphabet’s Financials

Alphabet’s first quarter revenues grew 22% over the year to $24.75 billion, ahead of the Street’s forecast of $19.78 billion. EPS of $7.73 was also significantly ahead of the market’s forecast of $7.38 for the quarter.

By segment, revenues from the Google segment grew 22% to $24.5 billion. Within the Google segment, revenue from Google properties increased 21% to $17.4 billion, Member’s websites grew 8% to $4 billion, advertising grew 19% to $21.4 million, and Other revenues which includes revenues from non-ad businesses including the Play Store, cloud app, infrastructure sales, and hardware grew 49% over the year to $3.1 billion. Revenues from Other Bets grew 48% to $244 million.

Among operating metrics, aggregate paid clicks grew 44% over the year and 2% sequentially. Paid clicks on Google websites grew 53% over the year and paid clicks on member’s websites grew 10% over the year. Aggregate cost per click fell 19% over the year with a 21% decline registered on Google properties and a 17% decline on Network Members’ properties.

Alphabet’s YouTube Controversy

Alphabet does not break out its YouTube revenues separately. But analysts estimate that the service will see an increase of 26% in revenues this year to $7 billion. That number may get a bit of a dent though, given the recent controversy surrounding YouTube ads. Last month, several advertisers, including big brands like McDonald’s, AT&T, GSK, Johnson & Johnson, and Verizon announced their intention to boycott ad placement on Alphabet’s ad network including YouTube. The boycott was initiated in response to reports of ads appearing alongside controversial and unsavory content that included videos of hate speech and ISIS recruiting propaganda.