The Pandemic Hit Alphabet/Google Hard
- Paul Thurrott
- Jul 31, 2020
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Google reported its first-ever revenue decline in the most recent quarter and attributed the poor performance to the impact from COVID-19.
Alphabet reported a net income of $9.9 billion on revenues of $38.9 billion in the quarter ending June 30. Revenues declined 2 percent year-over-year, a first-ever decline. 99.3 percent of those revenues came from Google, with Alphabet’s “other bets” posting yet another operating loss.
“In the second quarter our revenues were driven by gradual improvement in our ads business and strong growth in Google Cloud and Other Revenues,” Alphabet and Google CFO Ruth Porat said in a prepared statement. “We continue to navigate through a difficult global economic environment.”
Google’s business is dependent on online advertising, which accounted for 84 percent of Google’s overall revenues. But the business only saw small gains in the quarter. Google says that its advertising business improved over time, but that it wasn’t sure whether the rebound would continue into the current quarter.
“We believe it is premature to gauge the durability of recent trends, given the obvious uncertainty of the global macro environment, Ms. Porat said.