Alphabet's Q3 revenue jumps 14% as the company bounces back from a historic slump

• Alphabet reported its Q3 earnings on Thursday, revealing a mammoth 14% jump in revenue.
• The company beat Wall Street estimates, bringing in $38.01 billion in revenue (minus traffic acquisition costs).
• "This quarter, our performance was consistent with the broader online environment," said CEO Sundar Pichai on a call with investors.
• Are you an Alphabet employee? Contact this reporter via the encrypted messaging app Signal (+1-628-228-1836) or email (hlangley@businessinsider.com).

Google parent Alphabet's third-quarter results showcased a massive bounceback after its Q2 slump.

The company reported revenue of $38.01 billion (minus traffic acquisition costs) with earnings per share of $16.40. It represents a 14% year-on-year revenue jump over the same quarter last year, and a decent beat on Wall Street's expectations.

Alphabet had posted its first quarterly year-over-year revenue decline in the second quarter, with advertising spend dropping due to the pandemic. This quarter, it raked in $37.1 billion in advertising revenue, up from $33.8 billion in the same quarter a year before.

Cloud and YouTube both beat growth expectations, too. Google reported $3.44 billion in revenue for Cloud (up from $2.4 billion a year before) and $5.04 billion for YouTube (up from $3.8 billion a year before) – two areas analysts believe to be benefitting from the pandemic.

On the company's earnings call, CEO Sundar Pichai said that the company will start reporting break out Cloud as a separate reporting segment, beginning next quarter.

For its "other revenues," which covers things like hardware and Google Play purchases, the company reported $5.48 billion for the quarter.

Meanwhile "other bets" – the moonshot projects that fall under Alphabet, such as self-driving company Waymo – continue to spill more red ink on the balance sheets with an operating loss of $1.1 billion against $178 million in revenue.

Shares of Alphabet were up more than 8% in recent after-hours trading. On the analysts' call, Pichai also addressed the lawsuit the Justice Department has brought against the company.

"On that note, regarding the DoJ's lawsuit, we believe that our products are creating significant consumer benefits, and we'll confidently make our case," he said. "Our company's focus remains on continuing our work to build a Search product that people love and value."

Here's how the results compare to Bloomberg's survey of analysts.

• Revenue: $38.01 billion (minus traffic acquisition costs) (Expected: $35.3 billion)
• Earnings per share (GAAP): $16.40 (Expected: $11.4)
• Google Cloud revenue: $3.44 billion (Expected: $3.31 billion)
• YouTube ad revenue: $5.04 billion (Expected: $4.52 billion)