This post has been updated. Alphabet, Google’s new parent company, reported fourth-quarter results today (Feb. 1).
It’s the first time Google has reported results as Alphabet. The big takeaway: As expected, Google’s ad business is still driving the company’s revenue, profits, and growth. Alphabet’s “Other Bets,” which include Nest, Google X, Google Fiber, and other businesses, generate very little revenue—by design—and cost the company a few billion dollars last year.
We live-charted Alphabet’s results this afternoon. Updates follow.
4:00pm: Alphabet (GOOGL) shares closed at $770.77, up 1% on the day. Shares are up around 16% since Google announced the restructuring in August 2015.
4:07pm: Alphabet’s release is out. No surprise here: “Other Bets” (Nest, Google Fiber, Google X, etc.) is a very small business, revenue-wise. You can barely see it in the chart.
4:12pm: The “Other Bets” are big enough money-losers to show up in the operating income/loss chart, though.
4:20pm: Alphabet’s headcount passed 60,000 for the first time, ending December at 61,814.
4:27pm: One thing the Alphabet reclassification did was move the “Other Bets” revenue out from Google’s “Other” segment, which includes non-advertising revenue from sources like Google Play. During the fourth quarter, advertising represented 90% of Google’s total revenue. Ads on Google sites represented almost 80% of ad revenue.
4:43pm: Let’s zoom in on Alphabet’s “Other Bets” revenue and operating losses. Sales were up 42% year-over-year to $151 million in the fourth quarter (Nest thermostats for Christmas?). But its operating loss nearly doubled year-over-year to $1.2 billion.
4:57pm: It’s official: Alphabet has passed Apple to become the world’s most valuable company by market cap. Quartz’s Melvin Backman has more.