Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

Page 6 of 6

Ruth Porat: Thanks for the question. So, as we’ve talked about on prior calls, with Google Cloud, we’ve really been investing ahead of our revenues, given the growth and the opportunity overall and the desire to ensure that we’re equipped, able to support customers across segments around the globe. And so there’s been meaningful investment to position ourselves to really have the momentum that the team has continued to deliver. That being said, they are, as both Sundar and I have noted, extremely focused on the path to profitability in every element of that and some of the items that I noted that benefit Alphabet generally most certainly are relevant here for Cloud as well, everything from our efficiency with our technical infrastructure, which we’re very excited about, all the efforts that they’re doing there and more broadly.

So, this has been really to ensure, first and foremost, given the scale of the opportunity and the speed with which it’s moving that we’re positioned to be present with our customers, to provide them with the analytics, the skills, the capabilities that are needed to build for long-term growth. And we’re at a position now where we’ve meaningfully closed the gap to profitability but still are working through as we continue to invest for growth while narrowing what this is on our march to profitability.

Mark Mahaney: Thank you, Ruth.

Operator: And our last question comes from Brent Thill with Jefferies. Your line is open.

Brent Thill: Good afternoon, Ruth, can you give us a sense of what you’re seeing in Q1? Is this year a little more seasonal than historic? Are you observing any different patterns just over one month into of the year? Can you give us any color in terms of how you’re framing this quarter?

Ruth Porat: So I think as you know well, we don’t tend to — we don’t provide exit run rates. What we tried to do is give you the context within which we’re approaching the overall business and the priorities that we have as we’re looking at revenue upside and the growth levers there as well as how to reengineer our expense base to deliver attractive returns. So not really much to add to the comments that you’ve heard today, and we’re continuing to execute across each one of the elements we discussed.

Brent Thill: Thank you.

Operator: Thank you. And that concludes our question-and-answer session for today. I’d like to turn the conference back over to Jim Friedland for any further remarks.

Jim Friedland: Thanks, everyone, for joining us today. We look forward to speaking with you again on our first quarter 2023 call. Thank you, and have a good evening.

Operator: Thank you, everyone. This concludes today’s conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.

Follow Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Page 6 of 6