Alphabet reports strong start for 2021

Alphabet, Google’s parent company, reported big earnings for the start of 2021 during a call Monday. 

The Silicon Valley giant reported a total revenue of $55.3 billion, marking a 34 percent increase from the end of the first quarter of 2020. 

Alphabet also reported a net income of $17.9 billion, up from the $6.8 billion reported at the end of the first quarter of 2020. 

“Over the last year, people have turned to Google Search and many online services to stay informed, connected and entertained. We’ve continued our focus on delivering trusted services to help people around the world,” Google CEO Sundar Pichai said in a statement. 

In part, Alphabet’s big earnings were driven by YouTube and Google advertising. 

YouTube ad revenue was up 49 percent, to about $6 billion, and Google Network advertising was up 30 percent to $6.8 billion. 

Other Google revenues were up 46 percent to $6.5 billion, primarily driven from growth in Play and YouTube non-advertising revenue, followed by hardware, said Google CFO Ruth Porat. 

Google Cloud revenues were also up 46 percent to $4 billion. Google Cloud had an operating loss of $1 billion in the first quarter, Porat said. 

Google’s big earnings, which reportedly beat Wall Street’s expectations, comes as it and other tech giants continue to face scrutiny in Washington both on content moderation and their market power. 

Earlier Tuesday, YouTube’s director of government affairs and public policy for the Americas and emerging markets Alexandra Veitch appeared alongside Facebook and Twitter executives at a Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing on social media algorithms and amplification. 

Other tech giants are scheduled to report their earnings from the start of the year later this week. 

Apple and Facebook are scheduled to do so Wednesday, and Amazon and Twitter are slated to report their earnings Thursday.