Google shares news: Q1 revenues jump 26% on online ads earnings growth
Google shares closed in the red in the US Monday but are trading higher in after-hours activity, following the tech giant’s Q1 earnings release, post trade closing bell. Google said online ad revenues helped boost its bottom line, despite fears that regulatory concerns could dent profits.
Google shares ended the US trading session 0.33% lower at €1,073.81. The stock is currently marginally in the green in pre-market activity.
Google earnings details
Google’s earnings release showed that Q1 revenues grew 26% from the same period in 2017, to hit $31.146 billion. Net income, meanwhile, was close to double, rising to $9.4 billion in the first quarter of 2018, up from $5.4 billion a year earlier.
“Our ongoing strong revenue growth reflects our momentum globally, up 26% versus the first quarter of 2017 and 23% on a constant currency basis to $31.1 billion,” said Google and its parent company Alphabet’s CFO, Ruth Porat.
“We have a clear set of exciting opportunities ahead, and our strong growth enables us to invest in them with confidence,” Porat added.
On its earnings call, Porat also broke down the geographical revenue picture:
- US revenues rose 20% to hit $14.1 billion.
- EMEA revenues were 29% higher.
- APAC revenues gains 33% to $4.8 billion.
- Other Americas revenues grew 36% to $1.7 billion.
GDPR compliance
From May 25th, all companies providing a service to EU constituents must abide by the new GDPR rules. This is something that’s particularly in focus amid the Facebook data scandal.
Google said it has been working on it for the past 18 months to ensure the whole business is compliant, secure and transparent.
“We are committed to meeting requirements on May 25 and also long term,” Google CEO Sundar Pichai said in response to a question.
“We are working very closely with advertisers, publishers and our partners. And we will also update all the privacy policies and controls we provide to users worldwide,” Pichai said, adding: “We are very focused on getting it right by our users and partners, and that's where our focus is now.”
