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Why Is Alphabet (GOOGL) Up 3.9% Since Last Earnings Report?

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A month has gone by since the last earnings report for Alphabet (GOOGL - Free Report) . Shares have added about 3.9% in that time frame, outperforming the S&P 500.

But investors have to be wondering, will the recent positive trend continue leading up to its next earnings release, or is Alphabet due for a pullback? Before we dive into how investors and analysts have reacted as of late, let's take a quick look at the most recent earnings report in order to get a better handle on the important catalysts.

Alphabet Q2 Earnings & Revenues Beat Estimates, Up Y/Y

Alphabet’s second-quarter 2025 earnings of $2.31 per share beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 7.44% and grew 22.2% year over year. 

Revenues of $96.43 billion increased 13.8% year over year (13% at constant currency). Net revenues, excluding total traffic acquisition costs (“TAC”) (the portion of revenues shared with Google’s partners and the amount paid to distribution partners and others who direct traffic to Google’s website), were $81.72 billion, which surpassed the consensus mark by 2.2%. The figure rose 14.5% year over year. TAC of $14.71 billion rose 9.8% year over year.

Google Cloud revenues surged 31.7% year over year to $13.62 billion and accounted for 14.1% of the quarter’s total revenues. The figure beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 4.24%.

GOOGL’s Services Ride on Search & YouTube

Google Services revenues increased 11.7% year over year to $82.54 billion and accounted for 85.6% of total revenues. The figure beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 3.28%.
 
Google advertising revenues rose 10.4% year over year to $71.34 billion and accounted for 74% of total revenues. The figure beat the consensus mark by 3%. Search and other revenues increased 11.7% year over year to $54.19 billion, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 3.04%. Search and other revenues accounted for 56.2% of total revenues. YouTube’s advertising revenues improved 13.1% year over year to $9.77 billion, beating the consensus mark by 2.9%.

However, Google Network revenues decreased 1.2% year over year to $7.35 billion but beat the consensus mark by 2.88%.

Google subscriptions, platforms and devices revenues, formerly known as Google Other revenues, were $11.2 billion in the second quarter, up 20.3% year over year. The figure beat the consensus mark by 4.72%.

Other Bets’ revenues were $373 million, up 2.2% year over year, and accounted for 0.4% of the second-quarter revenues. The figure missed the consensus mark by 12.16%.

GOOGL’s Operating Margin Expands Y/Y

Costs and operating expenses were $65.16 billion, up 13.7% year over year. As a percentage of revenues, the figure declined 10 basis points (bps) on a year-over-year basis to 67.6%.
The operating margin was 32.4%, which expanded 10 bps year over year. 

Segment-wise, Google Services’ operating margin of 40.1% contracted 10 bps year over year. Google Cloud’s operating income was $2.83 billion compared with $1.17 billion reported in the year-ago quarter.

Other Bets reported a loss of $1.25 billion compared with a loss of $1.13 billion in the year-ago quarter.

Alphabet’s Balance Sheet Remains Strong

As of June 30, 2025, cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities were $95.15 billion, down from $95.33 billion as of March 31, 2025.

Long-term debt was $23.61 billion as of June 30, 2025, compared with $10.89 billion as of March 31, 2025. In May 2025, GOOGL issued fixed-rate senior unsecured notes with net proceeds of $12.5 billion.

Alphabet generated $27.75 billion of cash from operations in the second quarter of 2025 compared with $36.15 billion in the first quarter of 2025. GOOGL spent $22.45 billion on capital expenditure, generating a free cash flow of $5.3 billion in the reported quarter.

Alphabet Raises Capital Expenditure Guidance

For 2025, Alphabet now expects to spend $85 billion on capital expenditures.

How Have Estimates Been Moving Since Then?

It turns out, estimates review have trended upward during the past month.

The consensus estimate has shifted 5.39% due to these changes.

VGM Scores

At this time, Alphabet has a nice Growth Score of B, however its Momentum Score is doing a bit better with an A. However, the stock has a score of C on the value side, putting it in the middle 20% for this investment strategy.

Overall, the stock has an aggregate VGM Score of B. If you aren't focused on one strategy, this score is the one you should be interested in.

Outlook

Estimates have been trending upward for the stock, and the magnitude of these revisions looks promising. Interestingly, Alphabet has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). We expect an in-line return from the stock in the next few months.


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