Google parent Alphabet surges 8% after massive 3rd quarter earnings beat driven by recovery in advertising spend

• Google parent Alphabet surged in Friday trades after it reported third quarter earnings that crushed analyst estimates.
• The earnings beat was driven by a strong recovery in online advertising spend at Google's Search and Youtube properties. 
• Alphabet's fastest growing segment, Google Cloud, generated revenue of $3.44 billion, representing a 44% surge in year-over-year growth.
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Google parent Alphabet surged as much as 8% on Friday after it reported third quarter earnings that easily beat analyst estimates.

A recovery in online advertising spend was primarily responsible for the beat, with Google's Search and Youtube properties helping the company return to revenue growth after it reported a revenue decline in the second quarter.

Also helping boost shares was the company's intention to disclose more information about its Google Cloud division going forward, which is the fastest growing business at the company and is in a head-to-head-to-head competition with Amazon's AWS and Microsoft's Azure cloud platforms.

Here are the key numbers:

Revenue: $46.2 billion, versus the $42.8 billion estimate
GAAP EPS: $16.40, versus the $11.21 estimate

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Revenues by segment: Google Search was up 6.5% to $26.34 billion, Youtube ads surged 32% to $5.04 billion, Google Network Members was up 9% to $5.7 billion, Google Cloud surged 45% to $3.4 billion, Google Other was up 35% to $5.5 billion, and Other Bets surged 15% to $178 million. 

On its earnings call, CEO Sundar Pichai commented on the US government's antitrust lawsuit against the company.

"Scrutiny is not new for us. We're confident about the benefits we bring to our users, we'll make our case ... where there is feedback or rulings, we will be flexible and adapt," Pichai said.

Alphabet also touched on the future of ecommerce and integration with its Youtube advertising platform.

"Youtube is an important platform for ecommerce ... for US ecommerce working across the platform, I think that's an opportunity," Pichai said. 

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