Topic of the Week Alphabet, the parent company of Google and YouTube, reported stronger-than-expected first-quarter growth this week. The company’s shares rose 4% in extended trading on Thursday and saw a 3.15% increase in the past week alone. This stronger-than-expected revenue growth takes Alphabet;s revenue to US$90.23 billion. This brings year-to-year growth to 12%, higher than the 10% that Wall Street expected. Earnings per share also went up from $1.89 to $2.81, far beyond the $2.01 forecast. This led to Alphabet’s Class A and C shares rising 3.5% in extended trading. Source: Google Finance, as of 25 April 2025 What does this mean for you? Search engines aren’t going anywhere yet. Despite the US judge ruling that Alphabet (in particular, Google) illegally monopolised the online advertising market and Europe charging Google with anti-competitive practices, Alphabet’s better-than-expected earnings indicates that it still has what it takes to stay competitive in an AI age. The company can attribute its latest performance mainly to strong ad sales, a hefty $70 billion stock buyback,...