Executive Summary
Alphabet Q4 2024 delivered a robust top-line beat with revenue of $96.469 billion, up approximately 11.8% year over year and 9.3% quarter over quarter. The company posted a healthy gross margin of ~57.9% and an operating margin of ~32.1%, culminating in net income of $26.54 billion and earnings per share (EPS) of $2.17. Free cash flow reached $24.84 billion, underscoring the company’s capacity to fund AI investments, return capital to shareholders through buybacks, and sustain a strong liquidity position. Net debt remained effectively neutral, supported by a substantial cash and short-term investment balance of $95.66 billion, and operating cash flow of $39.11 billion, highlighting Alphabet’s ability to monetize a large ads ecosystem while allocating capital to strategic growth initiatives.
Key Performance Indicators
Key Insights
Revenue: $96.469B; YoY growth 11.77%, QoQ growth 9.29%. Gross Profit: $55.856B; Gross Margin 57.90%; YoY Margin +14.61%, QoQ +7.84%. Operating Income: $30.972B; Operating Margin 32.11%; YoY +30.70%, QoQ +8.59%. Net Income: $26.536B; Net Margin 27.51%; YoY +28.27%, QoQ +0.89%. EPS: $2.17; Diluted $2.15; YoY +30.72%, QoQ +1.40%. Cash Flow: Net cash from operating activities $39.113B; Free Cash Flow $24.837B; CFO-to-FCF conversion strong. Balance Sheet: Cash & equivalents $23.466B; Short-term i...
Financial Highlights
Revenue: $96.469B; YoY growth 11.77%, QoQ growth 9.29%. Gross Profit: $55.856B; Gross Margin 57.90%; YoY Margin +14.61%, QoQ +7.84%. Operating Income: $30.972B; Operating Margin 32.11%; YoY +30.70%, QoQ +8.59%. Net Income: $26.536B; Net Margin 27.51%; YoY +28.27%, QoQ +0.89%. EPS: $2.17; Diluted $2.15; YoY +30.72%, QoQ +1.40%. Cash Flow: Net cash from operating activities $39.113B; Free Cash Flow $24.837B; CFO-to-FCF conversion strong. Balance Sheet: Cash & equivalents $23.466B; Short-term investments $72.191B; Total cash and equivalents $95.657B; Total assets $450.256B; Total liabilities $125.172B; Total stockholders’ equity $325.084B; Net debt approximately negative $1.995B. Valuation and efficiency: ROA 5.89%, ROE 8.16%, ROCE 8.58%, current ratio 1.84, cash conversion cycle ~31.1 days. Capital allocation: Stock repurchases $15.551B; Dividends paid $2.442B. P/E ~21.9x; P/FCF ~93.5x; P/S ~24.1x.
Income Statement
| Metric |
Value |
YoY Change |
QoQ Change |
| Revenue |
96.47B |
11.77% |
9.29% |
| Gross Profit |
55.86B |
14.61% |
7.84% |
| Operating Income |
30.97B |
30.70% |
8.59% |
| Net Income |
26.54B |
28.27% |
0.89% |
| EPS |
2.17 |
30.72% |
1.40% |
Key Financial Ratios
operatingProfitMargin
32.1%
operatingCashFlowPerShare
$3.18
freeCashFlowPerShare
$2.02
Management Commentary
Transcript highlights unavailable in the provided data. No earnings-call quotes or management commentary were supplied for option to extract thematics or quotes. As a result, transcript-based themes, quotes, or nuances could not be incorporated.
Forward Guidance
The provided data set does not include explicit forward-looking targets or guidance from Alphabet management for the QQ4 2024 period. Consequently, forward guidance cannot be quoted or graded against. In the absence of formal targets, the outlook hinges on structural drivers: ongoing strength in advertising demand (Search and YouTube), continued growth in Google Cloud with AI-enabled services, and cost discipline in R&D and SG&A. Key factors to monitor include: (1) ad market resilience and pricing, (2) YouTube monetization and monetizable addressable audience growth, (3) Google Cloud revenue growth and cloud margin trajectory amid AI/ML spend, and (4) the pace and profitability of AI-related investments which could influence near-term margins but potentially lift long-term returns. Investors should track quarterly progress on Google Cloud margin, AI-enabled product adoption, and share repurchase cadence as signals of capital allocation discipline.