Alphabet weathers first quarter after the novel coronavirus, but the worst is yet to come

Google parent company Alphabet managed to weather the storm caused by COVID-19 in its first quarterly earnings that take into account the society-altering shifts of the global pandemic.

But this past quarter included barely two months of time since many countries instituted shelter-in-place orders that have all but eliminated global travel and other industries that spend big on web advertising. That means the worst is yet to come for Alphabet’s business, and CEO Sundar Pichai and finance chief Ruth Porat appear to be trying to prepare the company accordingly.

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