Google's parent firm Alphabet logs record $257 bn revenue in 2021

Google's parent company Alphabet has registered a record $257 billion in annual revenue for full year 2021 -- a 41 per cent (on-year) jump from previous year, as the pandemic accelerated digital transformation across sectors.

In the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2021, the Sundar Pichai-led company reported a revenue of $75.3 billion, up 32 per cent from the year earlier.

"Q4 saw ongoing strong growth in our advertising business, which helped millions of businesses thrive and find new customers, a quarterly sales record for our Pixel phones despite supply constraints, and our Cloud business continuing to grow strongly," Pichai, Alphabet and Google CEO, said in a statement late on Tuesday.

The better-than-expected earnings and revenue took its shares up by more than 9 per cent in extended trading.

The company also announced a 20-for-1 stock split that will take effect in July.

"Our deep investment in AI technologies continues to drive extraordinary and helpful experiences for people and businesses, across our most important products," Pichai added.

The company saw record growth in advertiser spend and strong consumer online activity, as well as substantial ongoing revenue growth from Google Cloud.

"Our investments have helped us drive this growth by delivering the services that people, our partners and businesses need, and we continue to invest in long-term opportunities," said Ruth Porat, Alphabet CFO.

Google's advertising revenue was $61.24 billion for the quarter, up 33 per cent from $46.2 billion in the same quarter last year.

The company reported cloud revenue at $5.54 billion, a 45 per cent growth for the quarter. It posted an operating loss of $890 million on its Cloud segment.