Google’s parent company Alphabet reported second-quarter profit of $1.89 per share, which was consistent with the first quarter but exceeded analysts’ expectations. CEO Sundar Pichai praised the results during the earnings call, citing the company’s investments in various areas of its tech empire as paying off. He highlighted the strength of search and momentum in cloud services, attributing the growth in revenue to these areas.
Despite the success in the second quarter, a potential deal between Alphabet and cybersecurity firm Wizz fell through earlier that same day. The deal, valued at $23 billion, would have been Alphabet’s largest acquisition to date, aiming to compete with cloud-based services from Amazon and Microsoft. This news, along with the failure of the Gemini AI image generation tool, caused concern among investors.
However, Google remains committed to AI investments, as seen in the announcements made at its annual developers conference in May. The company is focused on revamping Google search using AI summaries and has received both positive and negative feedback on this initiative. Pichai emphasized the company’s position for AI opportunities ahead and its efforts to enhance AI-enabled search services.
Alphabet’s earnings report comes amidst a challenging period for big tech companies, with investors looking towards other market opportunities. Despite this, the tech giant has seen success in the first half of the year, with shares rising and plans for a $70 billion share buyback. The company’s continued focus on AI and technology innovation positions it well for the future.
Source: www.theguardian.com
