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What happened
Shares of Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG)(NASDAQ: GOOGL) are rising today, up by 3.1% as of 1:30 p.m. EDT, after the internet search giant reported Q2 2021 results last night.
Alphabet crushed earnings estimates. Instead of the $19.21 per share in profit on $56 billion in revenue that Wall Street had forecast, Alphabet earned $27.26 per share on sales of $61.9 billion.
So what
"In Q2, there was a rising tide of online activity in many parts of the world," commented CEO Sundar Pichai, allowing Alphabet to cash in on "elevated consumer online activity and broad-based strength in advertiser spend."
Sales climbed 61.6% year over year in the quarter, operating profit margin on those sales nearly doubled to 31%, and Alphabet's earnings of $27.26 per share grew 169% over last year's bottom-line haul. Literally every Alphabet division gained strength in Q2, with Google Cloud (sales up 53%), Search (up 68%), and YouTube ads (up 84%) being particular standouts.
(Notably, however, Google Cloud remains a money-losing business for Alphabet, with operating losses of $591 million.)
Now what
Wall Street was just about unanimous in its approval of Alphabet's quarter. At last count, TheFly.com had recorded no fewer than 17 separate analysts raising their price targets on the stock, with Susquehanna going as high as high as $3,600 a share.
If they're right about that, then even after today's gains, Alphabet stock still has another 32% profit left in it for new investors.
