Alphabet Q2 2022 earnings show profits dropped compared to last year

Profits are down at Google parent company Alphabet for the second quarter in a row, even as it brings in more money. Alphabet brought in around $16 billion in profit during its second quarter of 2022, down from $18.5 billion during the same period last year, the company reported in its Q2 2022 earnings report this afternoon.

As with last quarter, it seems like rising expenses have played a part; the company actually brought in more revenue than it did in Q2 2021. This quarter, its revenues were almost $69.7 billion, up from last year’s $61.9 billion. However, compared to this time in 2021, Google’s spending around $3 billion more on both research and development and sales and marketing.

During the past month, Google has warned employees that times could be getting tough. Early in July, Google CEO Sundar Pichai sent a memo warning that the company’s “not immune to economic headwinds” and saying that the company would “need to be more entrepreneurial, working with greater urgency, sharper focus, and more hunger than we’ve shown on sunnier days.” Just over a week later, the company reportedly told employees it was pausing hiring for two weeks, saying that it would use the time to “review our headcount.”

The earnings help provide some context for those moves — Google ended Q2 2021 with 144,056 employees. By Q2 2022, that number had ballooned to 174,014.

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