The first three months of 2023 proved to be a tumultuous time for Alphabet. The parent company of Google and YouTube started the quarter with a massive round of layoffs that affected many long-time employees. Then, in February, YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki stepped down from her role after piloting the video platform for nearly a decade. Amidst all that turnover, OpenAI’s ChatGPT and TikTok’s search engine status presented great challenges for one of Google’s core businesses.
But after enduring all that turmoil, Alphabet is looking strong. The holding company’s Q1 2023 earnings exceeded expectations, though YouTube experienced a year-over-year decline for the third quarter in a row.
Alphabet reported strong topline numbers during a call with investors on April 25. The company’s Q1 earnings reached $1.17 per share, which beat projections by ten cents. Revenue topped out at $69.79 billion, nearly $1 billion above Alphabet’s expected quarterly mark.
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Thanks to that good news, Alphabet stock surged. It rose $2 per share in the wake of the earnings report before dipping on the 26th.
YouTube ad revenue followed the theme of the earnings report by hitting $6.69 billion for the quarter, which was just above the projected figure. But despite that success, Alphabet’s video platform is still struggling to keep up with the pace it established a year ago. Its Q1 2023 ad revenue represented a 2.6% year-over-year dip.
In spite of that extended slump, Alphabet CFO Ruth Porat (pictured above) said that she sees “signs of stabilization” for YouTube. Her superior, Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai, cited the incoming arrival of NFL Sunday Ticket as an opportunity for subscriber growth on YouTube.
To right the YouTube ship, Alphabet is turning to Neal Mohan, who succeeded Wojcicki as the platform’s Head. Mohan received only a single mention in the Q1 2023 earnings report, as Pichi noted the change in YouTube’s leadership. More details from the call can be found through Alphabet’s investor relations portal.
