When Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL) released its fourth-quarter financial results after the markets closed on Tuesday, the tech giant said that it had $22.30 in earnings per share (EPS) and $56.90 billion in revenue. That compared with consensus estimates of $15.90 in EPS and $53.13 billion in revenue, and the $15.35 per share and $46.08 billion reported in the same period of last year.
Revenues were driven this quarter by Search and YouTube, as consumer and business activity recovered from earlier in the year.
The Google segment posted fourth-quarter revenues of $31.90 billion, up from $27.19 billion a year ago. YouTube ad revenues increased 46.0% year over year to $6.89 billion and Google Cloud increased 46.6% to $3.83 billion.
In the fourth quarter, year-over-year traffic acquisition costs paid to Google Network members decreased by 23.1%. Total traffic acquisition costs increased to $10.47 billion from $8.50 billion.
Alphabet did not offer any guidance in the report. However, the consensus estimates call for $13.72 in EPS and $48.73 billion in revenue for the first quarter.
On the books, cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities totaled $136.69 billion at the end of the quarter, versus $119.68 billion at the end of the fiscal 2019 full year.
Shares of Alphabet closed Tuesday at $1,919.12 in a 52-week range of $1,008.87 to $1,949.37. The consensus price target is $1,986.64. Following the announcement, the stock was up 6% at $2,035.78 in the after-hours trading session.
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