Alphabet Inc. reported revenue that beat Wall Street expectations, calming concern about slowing growth at the heart of the largest digital advertising company. Revenue from advertising during the second quarter ending June 30 grew 16.1% to $32.601 billion from $28.087 billion during the same period last year.
The Google parent, No. 10 in the Internet Retailer 2019 Top 1000, said second-quarter sales, excluding payments to partners, came in at $31.71 billion. Analysts were looking for $30.84 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Sales from Google’s own online properties, including Search and YouTube, climbed 18% to $27.34 billion.
That was a welcome relief from the first quarter of this year, when Google missed Wall Street revenue expectations and ad revenue growth shrank. Ad revenue growth was still slower this quarter, at 16.1% compared with 23.9% last year but is in-line with long-term trends.
Google has grown at least 20% for years by stuffing more ads into mobile search results, luring viewers to YouTube and automating the web’s complex advertising process. The company is investing heavily in new technology, such as cloud computing and a voice-controlled digital assistant, while experimenting with different ad formats, Bloomberg reports.
In other earnings news:
- Social networking giant Facebook said second-quarter sales rose 27.5% to $16.9 billion, compared with an average analyst projection of $16.5 billion. In a statement Wednesday, the company said 1.59 billion people log in to the main social media service daily for the quarter ending June 30, up 8.2% from 1.47 billion during the second quarter last year.
- Apparel conglomerate VF Corp. (No. 86) reported a 29% increase in comparable ecommerce sales for its first fiscal quarter ending June 30, but didn’t break out exact figures. The parent of brands North Face and Vans said that wholesale revenue to ecommerce and omnichannel retailers was also strong, helping to build the company’s online presence.
- Grocery chain operator Albertsons Inc. (No. 200) increased ecommerce sales by 33% for its first fiscal quarter ending June 15, but it didn’t break out exact figures. It dedicated a large portion of its $362 million in spending on strategic technology including ecommerce initiatives and issued guidance that technology spending would be the second largest capital expenditure during the rest of the year, trailing only spending on new and remodeled stores.
Bloomberg contributed to this report.
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