YouTube Q1 ad revenue climbs 21% to $8.1 Billion

YouTube keeps eating up more share of the advertising pie: The Google-owned video giant posted $8.1 billion in ad sales for the first quarter of 2024, its highest Q1 total to date.

The figure for YouTube ad sales, up 21% year over year, was announced as part of parent company Alphabet’s Q1 earnings. Wall Street analysts expected YouTube’s ad revenue for Q1 to come in at $7.72 billion, according to StreetAccount.

That figure doesn’t include subscription revenue generated by YouTube. In 2023, Alphabet’s subscription services — including YouTube Premium and YouTube TV — generated $15 billion in revenue for 2023.

Overall, Alphabet reported revenue of $80.54 billion, up 15%, and net income of $23.66 billion, up 57%, or $1.89 per share. That handily beat Wall Street expectations for the quarter, driving the stock up 12% in after-hours trading.

The company expects YouTube and Google Cloud to finish 2024 with a combined annual run rate of $100 billion, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said on the earnings call.

“Our results in the first quarter reflect strong performance from Search, YouTube and Cloud,” Pichai said in announcing the results. “Our leadership in AI research and infrastructure, and our global product footprint, position us well for the next wave of AI innovation.”

Alphabet also announced the company’s first cash dividend — $0.20 per share, to be paid on June 17 — and said it plans to pay quarterly cash dividends in the future. In addition, the Alphabet board of directors authorized an additional $70 billion buyback program.

Alphabet reported 180,895 total employees as of the end of March, down 5% from a year earlier. Yahoo