Watch CNBC's full interview with Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian
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 Published On Feb 11, 2020

CNBC's Jon Fortt and Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian join "Closing Bell" for an exclusive interview.

Alphabet may have disclosed numbers for YouTube and Google Cloud for the first time, but the excitement is leveling as Wall Street says results might not be enough to stave off broader deceleration.

The reactions come after Google-owned Alphabet on Monday reported $46.1 billion in revenue for the fourth quarter, falling short of the $46.9 billion analysts had predicted. YouTube ads generated $15.15 billion in revenue in fiscal 2019, compared with $11.16 billion in 2018. Google’s cloud business generated $8.92 billion in revenue in fiscal 2019, compared with $5.84 billion in 2018.

Following the results, the company’s shares dipped nearly 5% before Tuesday’s opening bell.

Several analysts are weighing in with their reactions, saying that the numbers fell either in line or below their expectations and that, at its current state, YouTube and Cloud won’t be enough to offset the slowing growth of its companywide slowing of ad growth. They are also requesting the company offer more meaningful metrics that will show whether it can turn around the trend.

Meaningful metrics

While the new disclosures made analysts happy they were finally getting what they’ve been asking for for years, some said they didn’t get some key points stakeholders need. For example, Alphabet CFO Ruth Porat said on the company’s earnings call Monday that the majority of YouTube’s ad revenue goes back to the creators, but she declined to give any specifics. That caused analysts to question YouTube’s profitability.

In a note titled “Transparency Not Necessarily Tranquility,” Evercore ISI chief financial officer Kevin Rippey wrote that the transparency won’t affect growth outlook, adding it needed profitability metrics for margin trajectory.

“Certainly appreciate the transparency trend, but key questions remain open,” Rippey wrote. “To the extent investors are really looking for visibility for [operating income] growth, we’re probably not much closer to understanding where margins trough without detail on segment profitability.”

“Management wouldn’t quantify, leaving investors without much certainty for near-term reaccelerating,” he added.

Jake Dollarhide, CEO of Longbow Asset Management, which owns Alphabet stock, told CNBC shareholders always want more disclosures, but tech companies are so beloved by Wall Street that they’re able to get away with reporting minimal figures.

Margins matter particularly for Cloud because it allows investors to measure what Google is spending on sales and marketing as it aims to catch up to industry frontrunners Amazon and Microsoft. For YouTube, it could show whether all the new entrants into streaming video are putting pressure on YouTube margins.

As the company broke out YouTube and Cloud, it also abandoned metrics used in prior reports: cost-per-click and paid clicks. In response, the company pointed to its annual 10-K report but declined to respond to why the metrics are no longer included in quarterly reports.

Cost-per-click on Google properties — which roughly measures the amount Alphabet charges advertisers for each ad served on its websites — declined in recent quarters, showing Google’s pricing power for ads falling.

“The excitement over new disclosures probably put a mask on the weakness — but it was not a good quarter on the top line at all,” Jefferies analyst Brent Thill told Fortune magazine.

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