Alphabet (GOOGL) to Report Q1 Earnings: What’s in the Cards?


Alphabet


GOOGL

is scheduled to report first-quarter 2022 results on Apr 26.

For the quarter under review, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenues is pegged at $55.94 billion, indicating an improvement of 22.7% from the year-ago reported number.

The consensus mark for earnings is pegged at $25.63, indicating a 2.5% fall from the previous year’s reported number. Notably, the estimate figure has moved up 0.5% over the past seven days.

The company surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in all the trailing four quarters, delivering an earnings surprise of 35.23%, on average.

Search, Ad, YouTube & Cloud Momentum: Key Catalysts

Alphabet’s robust Search segment has been the key catalyst for the company’s top-line growth. Its expanding ad services portfolio, strong search engine and improving search results are likely to have benefited the first-quarter performance.

We believe that the company’s continued efforts toward advancing its Search segment are expected to have continued driving traffic on its platform in the first quarter.

Technical advancements in Google Assistant and Google Maps are expected to have driven the momentum across search further. This is expected to have contributed well to the performance of Google Services in the quarter under review.

The growing momentum across its mobile search is anticipated to have been another positive.

Google’s growing investments in AI are likely to have continued benefiting its advertisement business in the to-be-reported quarter. Rising advertiser spending and strong consumer online activity are likely to have been other tailwinds for the business.

Solid momentum in the retail, travel, and media and entertainment space is anticipated to have contributed well to growth in advertising revenues.

Strengthening momentum across YouTube Shorts is expected to have continued boosting customer engagement on YouTube in the first quarter.

Coming to cloud prospects, the company has been significantly gaining momentum in the highly competitive cloud market on the back of its expanding cloud services portfolio and an increasing number of data centers.

The impacts of the company’s go-to-market strategy, and strengthening cloud infrastructure and ecosystem are expected to get reflected in its first-quarter revenues.

The solid adoption of Google Workspace is likely to have contributed well to the performance of the Google Cloud segment in the to-be-reported quarter.

Android, Meet, Waymo, Cybersecurity & Google TV Efforts to Consider

New and updated Android features are likely to have continued helping the company deliver an enhanced user experience. The growing momentum across Android 12 on the back of modifications in privacy management, personalization and gestures is likely to have benefited the company’s performance in the to-be-reported quarter.

Google’s growing efforts to advance its video conferencing software — Google Meet — with new user-friendly features are likely to have bolstered its user base in the quarter to be reported.

The growing prospects around Alphabet’s self-driving unit — Waymo — are expected to have been other major tailwinds. The impacts of the company’s efforts toward expanding its Early Rider program called Waymo One Trusted Tester across the United States are likely to get reflected in the upcoming results.

The company’s strong Google TV efforts are expected to have driven its momentum in the streaming market in the quarter under review. Google’s integration of more than 30 streaming services into Google TV to provide access to several contents from the services in one place is anticipated to have acted as a tailwind.

The impacts of growing cybersecurity efforts are likely to get reflected in the company’s first-quarter results. Google’s acquisition of Siemplify, which offers cloud-based security orchestration, automation and response solutions, is expected to have benefited its cybersecurity offerings in the quarter under review.

What Our Model Says

Our proven model does not conclusively predict an earnings beat for Alphabet this time around. The combination of a positive

Earnings ESP

and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the odds of an earnings beat. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our

Earnings ESP Filter

.

Alphabet has an Earnings ESP of -1.97% and a Zacks Rank #3 at present.

Stocks to Consider

Here are some stocks that you may consider, as our model shows that these have the right combination of elements to beat on earnings this season.


Apple


AAPL

has an Earnings ESP of +0.54% and a Zacks Rank of 2 at present. You can see


the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here


.

Apple is scheduled to release second-quarter fiscal 2022 results on Apr 28. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for AAPL’s earnings is pegged at $1.44 per share, suggesting an increase of 2.9% from the prior year’s reported figure.


Fortive


FTV

currently has an Earnings ESP of +0.30% and a Zacks Rank #3.

Fortive is set to report first-quarter 2022 results on Apr 28. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for FTV’s earnings is pegged at 68 cents per share, which suggests an increase of 7.9% from the prior year’s reported figure.


WESCO International


WCC

has an Earnings ESP of +10.46% and is Zacks #2 Ranked at present.

WESCO is expected to release first-quarter 2022 results on May 5. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for WCC’s earnings is pegged at $2.20 per share, which suggests an increase of 53.8% from the prior year’s reported figure.

Stay on top of upcoming earnings announcements with the

Zacks Earnings Calendar

.


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