By Michael Lietke
Google’s profits rose 50% in this year’s opening quarter, overcoming the competitive and legal threats the Internet empire faces amidst the chaos of the global trade war.
Figures released by Google Parent Alphabet Inc. on Thursday show the company has risen to challenges so far, but investors may continue to be concerned about the upheaval times ahead.
Mountain View, California, won $34.5 billion, or $2.81 per share, during the January-March period, from $23.7 billion ($1.89 per share) at the same time last year. Revenues rose 12% from last year to $90.2 billion. According to Factset’s research, the results easily surpassed analysts’ predictions.
“We have continued to see healthy growth and momentum throughout our business,” Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai told analysts on a conference call Thursday.
Alphabet’s shares won more than 4% in expanded trading after the numbers were announced. Stocks fell 16% since the end of last year.
Google’s first quarter performance demonstrates the continued power of a long-dominated search engine in a sea of uncertainty. While artificial intelligence tackles the threat of competition to reshape technology, Google is fighting court decisions that accuses search engines and digital ad networks of illegal monopolies.
The AI-driven upheaval has opened up new opportunities for people to find useful advice, insights and information through more conversational search options such as Openai and Prperxity.
Google’s long-dominated search engine is fighting against the new competition, along with a feature called AI overview that appears on top of web links in results. We are also testing a conversation tool called AI mode. This leads to even more fundamental changes in the business model.
“The company has brought a healthy response to those questioning the solidity of their search business as demand for AI continues to grow,” said Thomas Monteiro, an analyst at Investing.com.
But Google is trying to leave the business alone as the US Department of Justice dissolved the company and after a federal judge branded an illegal monopoly on search engines last year, they attempted to impose other detentions. Worse, the digital ad network was found to be illegally abused its power earlier this month in another incident filed by the Department of Justice.
President Donald Trump’s trade war injected more uncertainty into the mix by rattling financial markets as tariffs threaten to rekindle inflation while dragging the economy into a recession. While Google’s digital services are not directly affected by tariffs, the recession could reduce spending on advertising, which generates a large portion of alphabet’s revenue.
However, there have been few signs of slowing down in the past quarter. Google’s ad revenue totaled $66.9 billion over the period, up 8% from a year ago.
Google executives are mostly bright during Thursday’s call, but have also acknowledged the conditions if the trade war caused a recession.
“We are clearly not immune to macro environments,” said Philip Schindler, Alphabet’s chief business officer.
Steady growth over the past quarter forced them to stick to plans to invest $75 billion in AI and other technologies this year, as well as pursuing approval for a $32 billion deal to buy cybersecurity company WIZ.
This story was revised to reflect Alphabet’s first quarter earnings, increasing 50% from last year or at $2.81 per share, with revenue totaling $900.2 billion for the January-March period. The story has also been revised to reflect Google’s ad revenue for the first quarter, totaling $66.9 billion, an 8% increase from a year ago. Previous versions reported changes in incorrect dollar amounts and percentages.
Original issue: April 24, 2025, 6:09pm EDT
