Google, otherwise known as Alphabet Inc. ($GOOG), is having an earnings call later today. It will kick off a week of FAANG and big-tech earnings calls, which include Apple, Amazon, Twitter, Facebook, Microsoft, eBay, Qualcomm, and AMD.
Google is expected to report $10.97 per share for the quarter. The consensus EPS might be a conservative number since we've seen it go as high as $13.97 in some places. But no matter what the number comes in at exactly, Google will still see upwards of $32 billion in revenue for the first quarter of the year.
But how did the Coronavirus affect what is an otherwise impenetrable company? Turns out Google is, so far, pandemic- and recession-proof.
The last three months have seen a 5% increase in total headcount, and if hiring doesn't slow down, Google could hit 200K employees soon. But as this next chart shows, the number of job listings is slowing, and that is most likely a result of COVID-19.
Job postings at Google are down 15.5% since April 8th as in-person interviews have been paused and as the company, which relies on keyword ad revenue as a large portion of its income, waits out the pandemic. But even within that revenue, numbers look somewhat optimistic. When it comes to Google Ad revenue, 11% comes from the travel industry (tourism, cruises, flights, etc.).
Profits from ads took a hit since most other companies affected by the pandemic are tightening their belts and are cutting advertising spending, which in turn causes Google to slow down its hiring. Revenue from the other parts of Google's business, including the almighty cloud, will have to do some more heavy lifting going forward.
The overall decrease in job listings have impacted YouTube and Google Fiber positions the most, as those sections have been seeing a decline well before COVID-19 hit the U.S. We doubt this will change, as Google is cutting its marketing budget in half, and implementing hiring freezes in various departments.
About the Data:
Thinknum tracks companies using the information they post online - jobs, social and web traffic, product sales, and app ratings - and creates data sets that measure factors like hiring, revenue, and foot traffic. Data sets may not be fully comprehensive (they only account for what is available on the web), but they can be used to gauge performance factors like staffing and sales.