Alphabet Inc reports better-than-expected financial results as demand for online advertising increases.

On Tuesday, February 2, 2021, Alphabet Inc <GOOG, GOOGL> announced its financial results for the quarter and fiscal year ended December 31, 2020. Google and Alphabet CEO, Sundar Pichai said, “Our strong results this quarter reflect the helpfulness of our products and services to people and businesses, as well as the accelerating transition to online services and the cloud. Google succeeds when we help our customers and partners succeed, and we see significant opportunities to forge meaningful partnerships as businesses increasingly look to a digital future.”

The company’s results have given a better outlook with the help of ad services provided by them for retailers and small businesses. Ruth Porat, CFO of Google and Alphabet, said: “Our strong fourth quarter performance, with revenues of $56.9 billion, was driven by Search and YouTube, as consumer and business activity recovered from earlier in the year. Google Cloud revenues were $13.1 billion for 2020, with significant ongoing momentum, and we remain focused on delivering value across the growth opportunities we see.”

The COVID-19 pandemic has also helped the company to record better-than-expected results. Alphabet’s shares surged by 8% to $2.067 in extended trading on Wall Street yesterday. Google’s advertising services have witnessed an increase in demand in recent months, as lockdowns have led retailers and other businesses to reach customers through the internet. Alphabet’s cash hoard has increased from $17 billion to $137 billion in 2020. Alphabet's fourth-quarter profit rose 43% to $15.2 billion, or $22.30 per share, beating estimates of $15.95 per share.