Nasdaq To Net Share Surge On Earnings Growth

Shares (Berlin: DI6.BE - news) in Alphabet - Google's new holding company - Amazon and Microsoft (NasdaqGS: MSFT - news) have soared in after-hours trading after they reported stronger-than-expected earnings.

Analysts said the performances had lifted concerns about a weak quarter after some disappointing early results and the Nasdaq (NasdaqGS: NDAQ - news) and wider markets were likely to see the benefit during Friday's trading.

Google's third-quarter report showed profits surging 45% to nearly $4bn - boosted by mobile search advertising and slowing growth in operating expenses.

Revenue rose 15% on the same period last year and investors responded - with Alphabet (Xetra: ABEA.DE - news) 's share price rising more than 10% after-hours.

The new holding company was created to oversee the growing mix of businesses which have sprung up on the back of Google's search dominance.

In January, Alphabet will report Google's financial numbers separately.

There was further evidence of Microsoft's transition in its earnings report - which sparked an 8% increase in its value during late trading.

It (Other OTC: ITGL - news) saw growth in advertising and online gaming while commercial cloud computing revenue soared 70%.

They helped offset a 6% drop in licencing payments from PC makers - seen as a sign that the launch of the Windows 10 operating system in July failed to spark an immediate revival in sales.

Advertising revenue from Microsoft's Bing search engine hit $1bn.

The company's profits grew 1.7% to $4.6bn.

Amazon - which has historically put investment and revenue targets ahead of profitability - reported a surprise profit for its third quarter.

The cloud computing to online retail firm credited its Prime Day sale in July - launched to mark Amazon's 20th anniversary - for a 23% jump in sales.

It said the revenue growth was driven by electronics and general merchandise.