The Banking Executive - Decemebr 2021, Issue 156

the BANKING EXECUTIVE 26 ISSUE 156 DECEMBER 2021 Covid-19 Impact On Tech Companies According to Reuters, Google’s par- ent, Alphabet, announced record revenue for the second straight quar- ter in 2020, despite the pandemic, driving shares up 6% as it topped es- timates for both advertising and Cloud sales as customers unleashed budgets for the holidays. Google’s advertising business, including YouTube, accounted for 81% of Al- phabet’s $56.9 billion in fourth-quar- ter sales, which rose 23% compared with a year ago. The Cloud unit also benefited from the pandemic, reach- ing $3.83 billion in sales ($13.1 bil- lion for the full year), which was up 46% from 2019. Alphabet’s quarterly profit rose 43% to $15.2 billion, or $22.30 per share, compared with the average estimate of $10.895 billion, or $15.95 per share. In a new disclosure, Alphabet said Google Cloud posted an operat- ing loss of $1.24 billion in the fourth quarter and $5.6 billion for 2020, a 21% wider loss than in 2019. In 2021, the company expects a $2.1 billion boost to operating results after