Google parent company Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL) reported earnings that missed Wall Street estimates after the closing bell on Tuesday.
The technology giant said adjusted earnings per share hit $1.21 during the second quarter, compared to $1.32 expected by analysts, according to Bloomberg data.
Meanwhile, revenue ex-TAC – or traffic acquisition costs – came in at $57.47 billion, compared to $58.14 billion expected by Wall Street.
Ad revenue totaled $56.29 billion during the period, topping the $56.14 billion analysts had expected. Google Services revenue, however, was light of estimates at $62.84 billion against expectations for $63.34 billion.
Shares of the company jumped 4% in after-hours trading. Through Tuesday’s close, the stock has fallen roughly 27% year-to-date.
Alphabet’s modest beat on ad revenue offered some relief to investors Tuesday following a dismal report from Snap (SNAP) last week that raised concerns about the digital advertising market.
The company posted an otherwise lackluster quarter. Overall revenue came in at $69.69 billion, up only 13% year-over-year compared to growth of 62% during the same period last year. Alphabet said foreign currency movements affected year-over-year revenue growth rates by 3.7%.
Google announced last week that it was scaling back on hiring this year and would entirely freeze onboarding new workers for the next two weeks as individual teams “prioritize their roles and hiring plans for the rest of the year.” The announcement came as other Big Tech peers said they would pause hiring in response to a more challenging economic environment.
Alphabet reported headcount totaled 174,014 as of June 30, 2022, compared to 163,906 at the end of the first quarter — up from 144,056 in Q2 of last year.
Google’s results come on the heels of a 20-for-1 stock split executed July 15, 2022 in the form of a one-time special stock dividend on each share of the company’s Class A, Class B, and Class C stock.
