CFRA KEEPS STRONG BUY RECOMMENDATION ON SHARES OF ALPHABET INC.
GOOG.L posts Q4 EPS of $30.69 and revenue of $75.3B (up 32%), well ahead of our expectations of $27.30 and $71.8B, respectively. Search related revenue grew 36%, ahead of our 30% forecast, as ad spend remained robust during the holiday selling season despite potential concerns related to supply constraints. Cloud revenue of $5.5B grew an impressive 45% but was relatively in line with expectations, as we remain optimistic about top-line growth potential (30% plus in '22 and '23) and share gain opportunities. YouTube rose 25%. Operating margin of 30.8% widened from 27.5% a year earlier but compressed from the 32.3% figure in Q3, partly reflecting higher cloud spend. Separately, GOOG.L announced a 20-for-1 stock split, which we think could help improve liquidity and potentially drive GOOG.L's inclusion into the price-weighted Dow 30 index. While we await further details about the company's outlook on the earnings call, we believe results coupled with the recent pullback provides an enhanced buying opportunity.
比较抓眼球的是Google Accounted for 30% Total Ad Sales Worldwide in 2021 |