Google’s Parent Company Alphabet Surpasses Apple To Become World’s Most Valuable Company
Apple is no longer the most valuable company on the planet. That distinction belongs to Alphabet, the recently formed parent company of Google, which reached a market capitalization of $570 billion during after-hours trading last night. That figure has fallen a bit after the opening bell this morning, but at $538 billion (and climbing), Alphabet still owns bragging rights over Apple.
Investors reacted positively to Alphabet's fourth quarter and fiscal year 2015 earnings report. For the three-month period ended December 31st, 2015, Alphabet recorded $21.3 billion in revenue, up 18 percent from $18.1 billion in the same quarter a year prior, which itself was up 15 percent from the year before that. After paying the bills, Alphabet ended up with a $6 billion (non-GAAP) profit for the quarter.
"Our very strong revenue growth in Q4 reflects the vibrancy of our business, driven by mobile search as well as YouTube and programmatic advertising, all areas in which we've been investing for many years. We're excited about the opportunities we have across Google and Other Bets to use technology to improve the lives of billions of people," said Ruth Porat, CFO of Alphabet.
The results were better than analysts were expecting, hence the positive reaction by investors. It also puts a stamp on Google's meteoric rise—the last time it was more valuable than Apple was in 2010. Both companies were worth less than $200 billion at the time.
Going forward, Google's parent company may have an advantage over Apple, at least in terms of remaining the most valuable firm in the world. Unlike Apple, which has grown heavily reliant on its iPhone line (iPhone sales accounts for two-thirds of Apple's revenue), Alphabet is spread out into various different businesses. Google is its bread and butter, but there's also Alphabet's fiber Internet business, its Nest division, and several others to carry the torch.
Investors reacted positively to Alphabet's fourth quarter and fiscal year 2015 earnings report. For the three-month period ended December 31st, 2015, Alphabet recorded $21.3 billion in revenue, up 18 percent from $18.1 billion in the same quarter a year prior, which itself was up 15 percent from the year before that. After paying the bills, Alphabet ended up with a $6 billion (non-GAAP) profit for the quarter.
"Our very strong revenue growth in Q4 reflects the vibrancy of our business, driven by mobile search as well as YouTube and programmatic advertising, all areas in which we've been investing for many years. We're excited about the opportunities we have across Google and Other Bets to use technology to improve the lives of billions of people," said Ruth Porat, CFO of Alphabet.
The results were better than analysts were expecting, hence the positive reaction by investors. It also puts a stamp on Google's meteoric rise—the last time it was more valuable than Apple was in 2010. Both companies were worth less than $200 billion at the time.
Going forward, Google's parent company may have an advantage over Apple, at least in terms of remaining the most valuable firm in the world. Unlike Apple, which has grown heavily reliant on its iPhone line (iPhone sales accounts for two-thirds of Apple's revenue), Alphabet is spread out into various different businesses. Google is its bread and butter, but there's also Alphabet's fiber Internet business, its Nest division, and several others to carry the torch.
