Alphabet‘s earnings report for the first quarter of 2024 sent its stock price soaring sky-high. The parent company of Google and YouTube exceeded analyst expectations in Q1, with its video-oriented subsidiary posting particularly strong results.
Overall, Alphabet’s revenue hit $80.54 billion for the quarter. That figure exceeded projections of $78.59 billion and represented a year-over-year bump of 15%. About 10% of those earnings came from YouTube ads, which pulled in $8.1 billion in sales during Q1 2024.
By rising 21% year-over-year, YouTube ad sales blew past projections. The video giant is also posting solid revenue numbers related to subscription services like YouTube TV. Subscriptions brought in $15 billion of revenue for YouTube during the 2023 calendar year, according to Variety.
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During the first quarter of the year, YouTube celebrated the one-year anniversary of its revenue-sharing program on Shorts. That monetization option has quickly grown into one of the platform’s strongest revenue streams. During the Alphabet earnings call, Google Chief Business Officer Philipp Schindler revealed that the number of channels that upload to YouTube Shorts has grown by 50% year-over-year.
“In 2023, more people created content on YouTube than ever before,” Schindler said. He added that the YouTube Partner Program has paid out “more than any other creator monetization platform.”
Though the majority of Alphabet’s Q1 numbers put the holding company in the green, its execs did address a few notable downturns. Alphabet CFO Ruth Porat indicated that YouTube’s subscription revenue declined quarter-over-quarter, though she attributed that dip to the NFL schedule. Q4 2023 boasted 14 weeks of NFL action, while Q1 2024 only included a single week of football.
The size of Alphabet’s workforce also decreased year-over-year. The Google parent currently employs 180,895 workers, which represents a 5% dip year-over-year. YouTube laid off approximately 100 people as part of a restructuring effort at the start of Q1 2024.
Alphabet’s encouraging results led to the company’s biggest stock boost in nearly a decade. Its share price shot up 10% on Friday before leveling out later in the day.
