Alphabet is down 6% in premarket action — (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL)– despite the company beating earnings expectations on top and bottom lines with its best revenue growth in five quarters.
Revenues grew 11% to $76.69B. Revenues also gained 11% in constant currency. But revenues in Google’s Cloud unit did not grow as fast as expected — the company’s only segment that did not beat Street consensus.
Operating income jumped to $21.34B from a year-ago $17.14B.
And net income jumped to $19.69B from a year-ago $13.91B. Earnings per share of $1.55 easily topped consensus for $1.45.
“I’m pleased with our financial results and our product momentum this quarter, with AI-driven innovations across Search, YouTube, Cloud, our Pixel devices and more,” CEO Sundar Pichai said. “We’re continuing to focus on making AI more helpful for everyone; there’s exciting progress and lots more to come.”
Alphabet also said it was taking action to optimize its office space worldwide.
Microsoft generated $24.26B in revenue from its intelligent cloud unit and $18.59B from its productivity unit.
Microsoft said that cloud services revenue, which is mostly comprised of Azure, grew 29%, or 28% year-over-year in constant currency.
Microsoft has been spending heavily to boost its Bing search engine, via advancements in artificial intelligence and its partnership with ChatGPT creator OpenAI.
The company returned $9.1B to shareholders during the period in the form of buybacks and dividends.
Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives, who has an outperform rating and $400 price target on Microsoft, said the results were a “home run.”
UFC is saying goodbye to Constellation Brands’ (STZ) Modelo as its beer sponsor, replacing it with Anheuser-Busch InBev’s (BUD) Bud Light.
This is the mixed martial arts company’s largest-ever sponsorship deal.
Bloomberg reported that the multi-year deal is set to begin in January 2024. While the amount of the arrangement was not disclosed, the news service said it would surpass the $175M deal with Crypto.com– UFC’s biggest sponsorship deal in the past.
Bloomberg said Bud Light would be integrated into UFC’s live events in the U.S., as well as at press conferences and weigh-ins.
Bud Light sales have been in a slump since earlier this year due to backlash over a controversial ad campaign featuring trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney.
Other articles to look out for on Seeking Alpha:
Apple’s China risks are real and rising: Bank of America
Earnings misses are being punished a lot more than beats are being rewarded
BlackRock to pay $2.5M to settle SEC order on an investment description
Ten of the 11 sectors ended in positive territory. Energy was the exception. Utilities and Communication Services topped the gainers.
The 10-year yield (US10Y) was down 2 basis points to 4.82%. The 2-year yield (US2Y) was up 4 basis points to 5.10%.
Now let’s take a look at the markets as of 6 am. Ahead of the opening bell today, Dow, S&P and Nasdaq futures are mixed. The Dow is up 0.04%, the S&P 500 is down 0.4% and the Nasdaq is down 0.7%. Crude oil is down 0.1% at more than $83 a barrel. Bitcoin is down 1% and above 34,000.
In the world markets, the FTSE 100 is up 0.03% and the DAX is down 0.2%.
