Alphabet shares rise on Q1 revenue beat, despite advertising slowdown

Why it matters: Investors were eager to see how well Google would fare this quarter, given that it's by far the largest advertising-based company in the world.

• Google's results signal some relief to investors in the ad-based tech sector, although analysts still predict a very rocky road ahead for advertising-based companies.

By the numbers, via CNBC:

• Earnings: $9.87 per share, adjusted versus $10.33 per share expected
• Revenue: $41.16 billion verses $40.29 billion expected by Refinitiv
• Traffic acquisition costs: $7.45 billion versus $7.51 billion per FactSet estimate
• Cloud revenue: $2.78 billion
• YouTube advertising revenue: $4.04 billion

Be smart: First quarter revenues don't reflect a full quarter of economic impact from the virus crisis. Many of these companies didn't begin to experience major ad pullback until March, when stay-in-place orders began.

• Google in particular has been hit heavily by the reduction in ad spending by travel companies like Expedia and Booking Holdings (owner of booking.com and kayak.com).