Google-backed video platform YouTube saw its advertising business improve during parent company Alphabet’s second financial quarter of the year, with YouTube bringing in $7.67 billion in revenue during the three-month period ending June 30.
The figure was revealed as part of the company’s financial earnings report, which showed Alphabet earned $74.60 billion in overall revenue during the second quarter of the year.
Wall Street had estimated Alphabet and YouTube’s earnings to come in slightly under what was reported, with analysts predicting YouTube would bring in $7.43 billion on Alphabet’s revenue of $72.82 billion. The report caused Alphabet’s stock price to climb substantially in after-hours trading.
For YouTube, its reported revenue indicated the company is starting to turn around its business, which has been hammered by a pullback in marketing spend that has impacted other video-centric media companies over the last few quarters.
YouTube’s revenue during Q2 2023 was 14.6 percent higher compared to the $6.69 billion the platform brought in during the first quarter, and a 4.4 percent increase when compared to Q2 2022.
Ruth Porat, the chief financial officer at Alphabet and Google, said the increase in revenue was due to an uptick in brand advertising across YouTube’s different platforms, which includes the streaming cable TV alternative YouTube TV and Spotify competitor YouTube Music.
The uptick reflected “further stabilization in spending by advertisers,” Porat said during a conference call with investors and reporter on Tuesday.
YouTube’s revenue also includes charges to consumers for access to YouTube TV and a premium version of YouTube that removes the company’s advertising from most videos. The price of both went up this year, with YouTube TV now charged at $73 a month and YouTube Premium costing $14 a month or $140 a year.
It wasn’t clear if the price increases contributed in any significant way to YouTube’s earnings, though they are included in revenue counts. Alphabet and Google do not differentiate between money earned from YouTube, YouTube Music, YouTube TV and other YouTube-based products like its subscription platform Primetime Channels.
