Google sales top estimates on ad surge; Alphabet plans $50 billion buyback

AD REBOUND

It was not immediately clear which industries powered Google's growth in ad and cloud sales.

Increased ad buying by travel and entertainment companies would be a positive sign as hotel booking services and movie studios are among Google's biggest spenders.

Google's ad business, the global market leader as measured in sales, accounted for 81% of the quarterly revenue compared with 82% a year ago.

The operating loss for Google Cloud, a distant rival to the cloud businesses of Amazon.com Inc and Microsoft Corp , narrowed 44% to $974 million in the first quarter.

Google's newer consumer subscription businesses, such as an ad-free version of YouTube, also could capture analysts' attention.

Alphabet shares have surged 80% in the last year, 184th among companies in the S&P 500 index.

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Privacy and antitrust lawsuits against Google that could result in changes to its ad operations have remained a concern for investors, according to analysts. But resolution remains distant, with one key trial not expected until 2023.

The latest dispute emerged on Monday when streaming TV technology company Roku Inc accused Google of engaging in anticompetitive behavior to benefit its YouTube and hardware businesses.

Discussions about changing U.S. and European laws to impose new oversight on Google, Facebook Inc and other companies, especially regarding privacy and artificial intelligence, have lagged as legislators have been distracted by the pandemic.

Shares of Facebook, which had been up 62% during the last year entering Tuesday, rose 1.7% after hours. Shares of Amazon, another big competitor in advertising, rose 0.2% after Alphabet's results and had been up 44% over the last year.

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