Google, er, Alphabet, to report earnings this afternoon

The market absolutely adored Alphabet’s financials and drove the stock up $39.00/ share or 5.91 percent in after-hours trading to $791.00 per share.

Alphabet, Inc., the company previously known as Google, has reported another quarter of stellar results off the back of continued advertising growth from its core Google business.

Alphabet, Google’s parent company, and Apple have been locked in a contest for the most valuable company in the world for the past few years. The alphabet shares shot to over eight percent in the amount, the market capitalization rose to $570 billion.

“I would have to say that the resulting story certainly tells the story that Google wants to tell more than providing the insights that people want to see”, said Adam Berke, president and CMO of AdRoll, an online advertising retargeting company.

That’s the sum of fourth-quarter losses reported today from such alpha-bets as Google Fiber, Nest thermostats and smoke detectors, Project Loon Internet balloons, self-driving cars, Verily medical research, robots, and no doubt other stuff we haven’t yet heard about in X, Google’s “moonshot” factory. Though “Other Bets” is now operating at a loss, some analysts think that some of the company’s endeavors may eventually pay off. Analysts had expected $20.77 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Going forward, Google’s parent company may have an advantage over Apple, at least in terms of remaining the most valuable firm in the world. That jump means Alphabet is now worth close to $568 billion.

Billionaire investor Carl Icahn, an Apple investor, said in May that the iPhone maker is “dramatically undervalued” and should trade at US$240 per share.

During the quarter, the company said its Google segment revenues were $21.2 billion. Due to the increase in stock value, the Alphabet’s total market cap rose at over $550 billion, overtaking Apple which was valued at $538 billion. The division generated just $448 million in revenue a year ago, compared with $74.5 billion at ad-driven Google.

On the other hand, Alphabet Chief Financial Officer Ruth Porat explained how they made the significant improvement.

Alphabet’s results show Google is still absolutely core to its success, with an operating profit margin of 31 percent.