Alphabet Stands Out in a Trio of Unimpressive Earnings

Meh. June-quarter earnings out Tuesday from Alphabet, Microsoft, Snap and Spotify shouldn’t excite anyone about the state of business in tech. The digital ad market is showing what can only be called an uneven recovery, while enterprise software appears to be still struggling. Alphabet seems to have had the best quarter of the companies reporting today, with revenue growth accelerating meaningfully from the first quarter. But let’s not get too excited. That means revenue grew 7% instead of 3%. Still, that was good enough for investors, who sent Alphabet stock jumping more than 6%.

Part of that enthusiasm may reflect Alphabet’s news that highly respected Chief Financial Officer Ruth Porat will transition to a new role as president and chief investment officer while retaining the finance role until a successor can be found. Porat, who is in her mid-60s, might have been expected to leave the company after spending eight years in the demanding role of CFO. If that’s the case, Sundar Pichai has pulled off a big win by persuading her to stay, which perhaps explains what seemed like his genuine enthusiasm on the investor call for her new role. And even if that role is meant to be less onerous than the finance chief role, it’s still an important job. Part of her new position is dealing with policymakers and regulators. Improving relations with those folks is vitally important for the company’s Google division, which is facing multiple antitrust lawsuits in the U.S. and Europe. Given the widespread criticism of Pichai’s effectiveness as CEO, keeping Porat around is surely a relief for investors.