Google parent beats Q4 estimates, stock still drops

Feb 4, 2019 | 2:00 PM

SAN FRANCISCO — Google parent company Alphabet beat Wall Street expectations for its fourth quarter earnings Monday, although its stock slid in after-hours trading.

The company reported profit of $8.9 billion on revenue of $39.3 billion.

Its revenue grew more than 21 per cent from $32.3 billion a year ago.

Analysts polled by FactSet were expecting earnings per share of $10.86, or a profit of $7.6 billion, on revenue of $38.9 billion.

Alphabet’s advertising commissions, or the money it pays other companies to direct people to its search, grew to $7.4 billion from $6.5 billion a year ago.

Alphabet’s stock price dropped roughly 3 per cent despite the beat in after-market trading Monday.

Alphabet shares have climbed 9 per cent since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index has risen roughly 9 per cent. In the final minutes of trading on Monday, shares hit $1,141.42, a rise of 2 per cent in the last 12 months.

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Portions of this story were generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on GOOGL at https://www.zacks.com/ap/GOOGL

Rachel Lerman, The Associated Press