Google Q3 Earnings Beat Expectations... Cloud Revenue 35% ↑

Google, the world's largest search engine company, beat market expectations in the third quarter thanks to growth in the cloud sector.

Google parent Alphabet Inc GOOGL.O reported revenue of $88.2 billion and earnings per share of $2.12 in the third quarter, up 15% from a year ago, beating estimates of $1.85.

Digital advertising revenue, the largest portion of revenue, rose 10% from a year ago to $65.8 billion and high-interest cloud segment revenue rose 34.9% to $11.3 billion, beating estimates of $10.8 billion.

Google's earnings beat expectations, helped by steady growth in its digital advertising business and increased AI-based demand for cloud services.

Investments in artificial intelligence in the search and cloud sectors are "performing" and YouTube sales have topped $50 billion over the past year, CEO Sundar Pichai said.