Google owner shoots up on Wall Street – E24

Alphabet will pay a dividend for the first time in its history and beat expectations last quarter. Microsoft is also climbing after strong quarterly figures.

The case is updated throughout the trading day.

There is a good mood from the start in the American stock markets on Friday. Several large technology companies are moving upwards.

This is how things are going for the three central indices on Wall Street 10 minutes after opening:

• The collective index S&P 500 rises 0.70 percent
• The technology index Nasdaq rises 1.38 percent
• The Dow Jones index rises 0.16 percent

There have also been fresh US inflation figures for March, which were slightly higher than expected. There were no major market reactions when the figures were released before opening on Wall Street.

First dividend from Alphabet

Google’s owner company beat expectations when they presented figures for the first quarter after closing time last night.

Revenues increased to 80.5 billion dollars, and the result after tax of 23.7 billion was markedly up from the same time last year.

At the same time, Alphabet announced that the company will pay dividends for the first time. The first dividend will be NOK 0.20 per share, and the company plans to distribute quarterly dividends in the future. In addition, the board has approved expanding the share buyback program by an additional $70 billion.

Alphabet shares are climbing around 11 percent in early trading.

Microsoft beat expectations

Another of the technology giants, Microsoft, also presented quarterly figures on Thursday evening.

Microsoft delivered better than expected both at the top and bottom of the accounts. Revenues came in at $61.9 billion in the first quarter, while adjusted earnings per share landed at $2.94. The company’s cloud revenues increased by 23 percent compared to the previous year.

The Microsoft share rises 2.5 percent.

Several of the largest American technology companies have had a strong development on the stock exchange in the past year. Microsoft, Alphabet and Facebook owner Meta are all betting heavily on AI, while computer chip manufacturer Nvidia has had a particularly strong upturn due to the AI ​​wave.

Snap shoots up

Snapchat owner Snap is also getting a lift after posting results. The share often has large effects after the release of figures.

Snap shares rise 24 percent in early trading.

Revenue of $1.19 billion and a profit that was barely in the red were both better than expected. It is nevertheless strong guidance that is highlighted as decisive for the share.

Price growth is staying up

On Friday, the new US inflation figure came in, which ended up slightly higher than expected.

Price growth came in at 2.7 per cent in March on an annual basis, recent PCE figures showed. PCE inflation is the US Federal Reserve’s preferred way of measuring inflation. Core inflation, which excludes food and energy, remained at 2.8 per cent.

Price inflation in the US has calmed down from high levels, but recently the decline has stopped. At the same time, the labor market has remained tight and the economy in general has performed relatively well.

Belief in interest rate cuts has steadily diminished, and expectations about the first interest rate cut have been pushed back in time. The market is now pricing in only about a 10 percent chance of an interest rate cut in June, and the first interest rate cut will not be priced in until November.

There was a decline on Wall Street yesterday, after several key figures were released. GDP figures showed that the US economy grew less than expected in the first quarter, but analysts primarily pointed to an update on inflation. PCE inflation for the full first quarter climbed more than expected