Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai delivers a speech on artificial intelligence at the Bruegel Think Tank Conference in Brussels, Belgium, on January 20, 2020.
Yves Herman | Reuters
letter First-quarter earnings will be released after the bell on Thursday.
That’s what analysts expected.
- Earnings per share: $1.51, according to LSEG.
- income: $78.59 billion, according to LSEG.
- YouTube ad revenue$7.72 billion, according to StreetAccount.
- Google Cloud revenue: Valued at $9.35 billion, according to StreetAccount.
- Traffic Acquisition Cost (TAC)$12.74 billion, according to StreetAccount.
Wall Street expects Alphabet to post its second consecutive quarter of annual revenue growth. While this marks an acceleration from previous quarters, the numbers compare to some of Google’s weakest reports ever.
The boom in generative artificial intelligence is forcing Google to take into account changes in the way consumers get information online, and is prompting the company to ensure it doesn’t fall behind OpenAI and Microsoft Develop new technologies and features.
As more and more users abandon traditional web searches, Google has been restructuring to try to stay ahead of the artificial intelligence arms race.
In February, Google launched an artificial intelligence image generator, but pulled it after users discovered inaccurate information that went viral online. Prior to this incident, Google had made several other product launch mistakes as it rolled out tools and services.
Prabhakar Raghavan, Google’s senior vice president of search, told employees last month that the need to invest quickly in artificial intelligence had changed the market and they needed to move faster.
“We are in a new cost reality,” Raghavan said at a plenary meeting, information of which was obtained by CNBC. By generating artificial intelligence, the company is “investing heavily in machines,” he added. Organic growth is slowing, and the number of new devices entering the world is “not as good as before.”
Raghavan, who leads a research team, said the first quarter of the year experienced “real highs and lows.” Reorganization Company veteran Liz Reid has been named head of search, reporting to him.
online advertising competitors Yuan It releases first-quarter results on Wednesday. Despite beating revenue and profit estimates, shares tumbled in intraday trading on weaker-than-expected forecasts and Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg’s pledge to make significant ongoing investments, mostly focused on artificial intelligence.
Google is adding more generative artificial intelligence capabilities to search this quarter and launching Circle to Search, which uses highlighted words or images in screenshots and transcribes them into Google searches.Gizmodo call it “The best new Android feature in years.”
Cost cutting and layoffs continue this season. According to CNBC, Google Chief Financial Officer Ruth Porat told the company’s finance team that their team will be reorganized, including relocation to other countries and layoffs.
As advertising growth slows, Google has made a broader effort to realign its staff and resources to accommodate further investment in new technologies such as artificial intelligence. Chief Executive Sundar Pichai told employees in January that more layoffs were likely in 2024, but he did not specify at the time which teams would be affected.
Google has also faced internal strife this season, with employees outcry over a cloud contract the company signed with the Israeli government called Project Nimbus. The company ultimately fired more than 30 employees who claimed they were connected to the internal protests.