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Google Earnings Preview: Will The Pixel Boost Revenues?

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In an incredibly packed week of earnings announcements, the upcoming report from Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL - Free Report) should emerge as one of the technology sector’s most important bellwethers. The Google parent has its hands in nearly every corner of the tech world, so investors will want to pay close attention when it releases its Q3 report on Thursday afternoon.

Based on our latest consensus estimates, we expect to see Alphabet post earnings of $8.39 per share and revenues of $21.94 billion, which would represent year-over-year growth rates of -7.4% and +20.1%, respectively.

Litigation costs, including a massive anti-trust fine from the European Commission, have cut into Alphabet’s bottom line this year. Nevertheless, Google and the other subsidiaries under the Alphabet umbrella hold a strong position in several emerging markets—including cloud computing, mobile payments, ecommerce, and artificial intelligence—and should continue to witness strong growth on the top line.

One of the most exciting growth prospects for Alphabet right now is its “Google other revenues” category. The company’s advertising business is still its bread and butter, but this segment includes several rising stars, including Google Cloud, Google Play Store, and several new hardware initiatives.

Investors will remember that Alphabet debuted a new line of Google-branded hardware devices in October 2016. This new line included the Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones, as well as the Google Home—the company’s new AI-powered smart speakers.

Since these debuted after the end of 3Q16, we’re still seeing the effects of these products in Alphabet’s year-over-year comparisons. With that said, the “Google other revenues” category could be a key growth catalyst for Alphabet this quarter.

But what kind of performance can we actually expect from this unit? Well, using our exclusive non-financial metrics estimates file, we can gauge analyst sentiment and prepare ourselves for Alphabet’s report.

These important stock drivers are from our exclusive non-financial metrics consensus estimate file. These estimates are updated daily and are based on the independent research of expert stock analysts. Learn more here>>>

According to our latest consensus estimates, we expect Alphabet to report Google other revenues of $3.43 billion. This would represent year-over-year growth of 41.2% from the $2.43 billion recorded in the year-ago quarter.

While we won’t know for sure how much of this revenue is coming from the company’s hardware initiatives, it is reasonable to assume that this year-over-year comparison is lifted by the debut of these new products.

For more stock-moving estimates ahead of Alphabet’s Q3 report, check out our full guide: 3 Key Estimates for Google's Q3 Earnings Report

And make sure to check back here for our full analysis of Alphabet’s actual results later this week!

Want more stock market analysis from this author? Make sure to follow @Ryan_McQueeney on Twitter!

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