This archive report was first published on 29 October 2019.
On October 29, 2019, Alphabet, the parent company of Google, reported a 23% decline in quarterly profit to $7.1 billion, despite a 20% increase in revenue to $40.5 billion.
Shares in Alphabet fell 1.1% in after-hours trading, as the company's profits failed to meet investor expectations.
Google's digital advertising business remained the primary source of revenue, generating $34 billion in the quarter.
However, revenue from other sources, including cloud computing, increased by over 40% to $6.4 billion.
Alphabet has been investing heavily in research and development, particularly in artificial intelligence, cloud infrastructure, and new hardware products.
"We continue to invest thoughtfully in talent and infrastructure to support our growth, particularly in newer areas like Cloud and machine learning," said Alphabet's chief financial officer, Ruth Porat.
The company is facing antitrust reviews on both sides of the Atlantic due to its dominance of internet search, and has been seeking to diversify its business with more hardware and new services.
Losses on "other bets," such as delivering internet services from high-altitude balloons, ballooned to $941 million in the quarter, compared to a $727 million loss in the same period a year earlier.
