Major U.S. tech companies reported their first-quarter earnings Thursday, with Alphabet and Intel reporting stronger-than-expected Q1 growth. Intel’s CFO David Zisner also cautioned that the Q2 forecast might be lower due to growing trade policy uncertainty.

During Thursday’s earnings call, Google’s Chief Business Officer, Philipp Schindler, said that Google is “not immune to the macro environment.” He also noted that the company has “a lot of experience” in managing through uncertain times.

Tech companies record better-than-expected Q1 results

$GOOGL +4.6% AH after 1Q Revs, EPS top ests on higher than expected Search adv.
– 1Q Revs $90.2B vs $89.1B est
– 1Q Revs (ex-TAC) $76.5B vs $75.4B est
– 1Q EPS $2.81 vs $2.05 est
– 1Q Search revs $50.7B vs $50.3B est
– 1Q YouTube revs $8.9B vs $8.9B est
– 1Q Cloud $12.3B vs…

— Gary Black (@garyblack00) April 24, 2025

Google’s parent company, Alphabet, exceeded Wall Street’s expectations after reporting Q1 earnings of $90.23 billion and $2.81 per share. Consensus estimates showed that analysts had forecasted first-quarter revenue of $89.62 billion and earnings of $2.01 per share. 

The tech firm recorded strong first quarter revenue despite being embroiled in antitrust lawsuits brought by the U.S. government and having a 17% drop in its stock price since the beginning of the year. The company’s CEO, Sundar Pichai, said Q1 results reflected healthy growth and momentum across the business. 

He also argued that Alphabet’s emphasis on artificial intelligence underpins the growth. The firm’s Q1 report showed that its search and advertising units were still experiencing strong growth despite heightened AI competition.

Intel also reported Q1 results on Thursday that beat analysts’ forecast, with revenue of $12.7 billion and non-GAAP earnings of $0.13 per share. The company also warned that the early growth was likely front-loaded and not indicative of the rest of the year. 

Tech companies brace for uncertain Q2 amid trade policies

Tech giant Intel said it expects earnings for Q2 to fall between $11.2 billion and $12.4 billion, a year-over-year decline of up to 12%. The tech company also cautioned of a lower Q2 forecast, citing a “fluid” macro environment and growing trade policy uncertainty as it prepares for potential economic fallout from tariffs. 

The firm’s CFO, David Zinsner, argued that Q1 revenue benefited from customer purchasing behavior in anticipation of potential tariffs. He also believes the rest of the year could be choppy depending on what is settled in the trade policies.  

The company said the June quarter will soften as tariffs begin to weigh on demand and supply chains. Zisner mentioned that President Donald Trump’s tariffs and retaliation from other countries had increased the likelihood of a recession.

Google’s CFO David Schindler argued that the firm’s ads business could be affected by Trump’s decision to end the trade loophole on 2 May, which allows for duty-free imports for items less than $800. 

“We have seen some transaction velocity in e-commerce drop off of late, and given the macro noise, would expect digital ads to weaken in 2Q.”

~ Ross Sandler, Barclays Analyst.

Data from Statista showed that advertising on Google’s core business makes up about 75% of its total revenue. The company said it’s working on shifting its ads business to emphasize artificial intelligence tools and capabilities for marketers more.

The hopes that both the U.S. and China would de-escalate the trade war died down after China said there were no ongoing trade talks with the U.S. Trump had claimed on Thursday afternoon that negotiations were taking place with Beijing. He also declined to reveal any details on the nature of the talks, which fueled uncertainty around trade.

China’s Ministry of Commerce spokesperson, He Yadong, stated yesterday that Trump’s claims about the progress of China-U.S. trade negotiations were groundless and had no factual basis. Guo Jiakun, spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, also noted that China and the U.S. had not conducted consultations or negotiations on tariffs, let alone reach an agreement.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent argued that the U.S.-China tariffs need to come down before trade negotiations can proceed. He also recently described a trade war with China as “unsustainable.” Bessent believes that de-escalation was necessary for the world’s two largest economies to rebalance their trading partnership.

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