Google Cloud brought in $4.047 billion in sales for the first quarter of 2021, Google’s parent company Alphabet reported Tuesday. That’s up 46 percent from $2.78 billion the year prior.
“We’re very pleased with the ongoing momentum in Google Cloud, with revenues of $4.0 billion in the quarter reflecting strength and opportunity in both GCP and Workspace,” Google and Alphabet CFO Ruth Porat said in a statement.
The cloud business posted an operating loss of $974 million, compared with a loss of $1.73 billion a year prior.
In Q4 2020, Google began disclosing Google Cloud’s operating losses, giving a better picture of how much Google’s ad business continues to subsidize its cloud expansion.
Overall, Alphabet in Q1 reported net income of $17.93 billion and diluted earnings per share of $26.29. Total revenues came to $55.3 billion, up 34 percent.
Wall Street was looking for earnings of $15.88 per share with $51.68 billion in revenue.
As usual, Google Services revenues attributed most of Q1 sales, with $51.18 billion in revenue, and advertising continues to generate the most revenue for Google. In Q1, Google ad revenues came to $44.68 billion, compared to $33.76 billion in Q1 2020.
Google Search and other ad revenue (excluding YouTube) increased year-over-year to $31.88 billion in Q1. Revenue for YouTube ads rose from $4.04 billion in Q1 2020 to $6 billion in Q1 2021.
In Alphabet’s moonshot “Other bets” category, revenue came to $1968 million while its operating loss reached $1.15 billion.
“Over the last year, people have turned to Google Search and many online services to stay informed, connected and entertained,” Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said in a statement. “We’ve continued our focus on delivering trusted services to help people around the world. Our Cloud services are helping businesses, big and small, accelerate their digital transformations.”
