Google’s parent company, Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL), made waves in the stock market with a more than 10% surge in after-hours trading on Thursday, and an 11.95% surge in pre-market trading on Friday. The announcement of its first-ever dividend and a $70 billion buyback program fueled the enthusiasm. Google’s Q1 Earnings Smashed Estimates The rally followed the release of Alphabet’s impressive first-quarter earnings report, which exceeded analyst expectations across the board. Earnings per share came in at $1.89, surpassing the $1.51 per share expected by analysts. Revenue also beat expectations, reaching $80.54 billion, compared to the anticipated $78.59 billion. Additionally, YouTube advertising revenue hit $7.72 billion, and Google Cloud revenue reached $9.35 billion, both exceeding estimates. Google reported Traffic Acquisition Costs (TAC) at $12.74 billion, in line with expectations. More on the earnings here: ...