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Alphabet’s revenue jumped 15 per cent in the first quarter of 2024 and it announced it would pay its first dividend of 20 cents a share, buoyed by a rise in earnings across its main business lines of advertising, search, YouTube and cloud.
Revenue rose to $80.5bn from $69.8bn a year ago, beating analysts’ expectations for $79bn, according to a filing on Thursday. Earnings per share were $1.89, up from $1.17 last year and exceeding the average $1.53 estimate.
Advertising revenue, which accounts for the vast majority of Google’s top line, grew 13 per cent to $61.7bn, compared with analysts’ consensus forecast for $60.2bn. Ad revenue on YouTube also rose 21 per cent to $8.1bn, while Google’s Cloud services business saw a 28 per cent increase to $9.6bn.
The shares rose 12 per cent in after-hours trading. The first-quarter dividend is worth almost $2.5bn.
This is a developing story