For the first time in Google’s history, we finally have an idea of how those side projects—self-driving cars, Nest thermostats, attempts at defeating death, etc.—actually perform. And unsurprisingly, they’re bleeding a lot of money.
Alphabet, Google’s new parent company, reported its earnings today (Feb. 1) and revealed that its “Other Bets“—a bucket that includes Google Fiber, Calico, Nest, Verily (formerly Google Life Sciences), Google Ventures, Google Capital, and Google X—had an operating loss of $3.57 billion in 2015. These speculative, “moonshot”-type businesses generated $448 million in annual revenue, up 37% from the previous year, but the reported loss was 83% wider.
These other bets are still just a small part of Alphabet’s business. The company reported strong financials overall, buoyed entirely by Google. In the fourth quarter, Alphabet generated $4.92 billion in profit on sales of $21.3 billion. The revenue figure represented an 18% increase from the previous year, and was slightly above analysts’ expectations.
Google shares shot up 7% in after-hours trading.