It has only been alive since August, but Google's parent company - Alphabet - has replaced Apple as the most valuable company in the world. The news was revealed in its latest earning report. The company said that its net income for Q4 2015 was $4.9bn, that's up from $200m for the same period in the previous year.
The main drivers of Alphabet's growth were mobile searches, YouTube, and advertising. Mobile searches in particular will continue to increase the company's revenue as more people adopt smaller form factor devices, to accompany their traditional desktops, or outright replace them.
Commenting on Alphabet's fourth quarter results, Ruth Porat, CFO of Alphabet, said "Our very strong revenue growth in Q4 reflects the vibrancy of our business, driven by mobile search as well as YouTube and programmatic advertising, all areas in which we've been investing for many years."
The figures released by Alphabet, show that more money has been spent on moonshot projects, than the previous year. During 2014, the company had lost $1.94bn on moonshots, whilst 2015 saw losses skyrocket to $3.57bn. Moonshot projects include Project Loon - which aims to bring internet to poor countries - and its self-driving cars.
The news means that Alphabet is now worth around $568bn, it has overtaken Apple as the world's most valuable company, which is worth about $535bn. Alphabet's Class A shares jumped by more than 9% in after-hours trading.
Source: Alphabet via BBC News | Image via Yahoo Finance
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