Alphabet revenue jumps 24 percent on mobile advertising growth

(Reuters) - Google parent Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O) reported a 24 percent jump in quarterly revenue on robust mobile advertising.

The company’s shares were up nearly 3 percent at $1,020 after the bell on Thursday. They have gained 25 percent this year.

On a consolidated basis, the company’s revenue rose to $27.77 billion in the third quarter ended Sept. 30.

Ad revenue surged 21.4 percent to $24.07 billion.

Google is expected to generate about $72.42 billion in net digital ad revenue worldwide this year, a 15.7 percent jump from a year earlier, according to research firm eMarketer.

Paid clicks, where an advertiser pays only if a user clicks on ads, rose 47 percent. Analysts on average had expected an increase of 46.1 percent, according to data and analytics firm FactSet.

Alphabet’s total traffic acquisition costs, a measure of how much money the company spends to attract users to its search engine, rose 31.6 percent.

Losses from Alphabet’s “Other Bets” - separate business units including the Waymo self-driving car unit, Google Fiber, thermostat-maker Nest and life sciences firm Verily – narrowed to $812 million from $861 million.

The company's net income rose to $6.73 billion, or $9.57 per Class A and B share and Class C capital stock, in the third quarter ended Sept. 30 from $5.06 billion, or $7.25 per share, a year earlier. bit.ly/2hdew6Q