Google-parent Alphabet’s cloud division misses revenue estimates

Google-parent Alphabet’s cloud division missed estimates for third-quarter revenue on Tuesday as an uncertain economy and high interest rates forced companies to trim their budgets.

Shares of the Mountain View, California-based company fell more than 5 per cent in extended trading.

Fears of a slowing global economy have prompted companies to curb spending on cloud-related services, including expensive AI tools, which has slowed revenue growth at Google's cloud unit to 22.5 per cent in the third quarter, from 28 per cent in the prior three-month period.

Google Cloud generated third-quarter revenue of $8.41 billion (€7.9 billion), compared with $6.87 billion in the year-ago quarter. It reported an operating income of $266 million, compared with an operating loss of $440 million a year ago. Wall Street expected cloud computing revenue of $8.62 billion.

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By contrast, revenue from Microsoft’s Intelligent Cloud unit, which houses the Azure cloud computing platform, grew to $24.3 billion, compared with analysts’ estimate of $23.49 billion, LSEG data showed. Azure revenue rose 29 per cent, higher than a 26.2 per cent growth estimate from market research firm Visible Alpha. Microsoft shares rose 5 per cent after hours in New York.

“Despite Alphabet topping quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, investors were disappointed by the relatively weak performance at its Google cloud platform, which is at risk of falling further behind Azure and AWS,” Investing.com senior analyst Jesse Cohen said.

While advertising spending has been strong in some sectors such as retail and travel, industry executives and analysts have noted a pullback in budgets in some areas, affecting Alphabet's major source of revenue.

The company recorded ad revenue of $59.65 billion in the third quarter, compared with $54.48 billion a year earlier. Analysts on average had expected $59.12 billion in revenue from its advertising business. Within the company's advertising segment, YouTube ads reported revenue of $7.95 billion compared with $7.07 billion last year.

Alphabet reported a net profit of $19.69 billion for the July-Sept. period, compared with $13.91 billion a year earlier.

Revenue for the quarter ended September 30 stood at $76.69 billion, compared with estimates of $75.97 billion, according to LSEG data.

Alphabet laid off roughly than 12,000 employees earlier this year, or about 6 per cent of its global workforce, in an effort to cut staff amid a “different economic reality.” The company also laid off employees from its global recruiting team in September.

The company disclosed that it recorded severance and related charges of $2.1 billion for the first nine months of the year. – Reuters