Google Cloud Q1 Earnings Preview: Tariffs, Wiz And Gemini AI
From potential tariff impacts to total sales expectations and Gemini momentum, here’s five things to watch for this week during Google Cloud’s first quarter 2025 earnings report.
After unveiling a slew of news and new innovation at Google Cloud Next this month, Google Cloud is set to release its financial earnings results from the first quarter of 2025 this Thursday.
“We at Google Cloud are committed to helping each of you innovate by delivering the leading enterprise-ready, AI-optimized platform with the best infrastructure, leading models, tools and agents—by offering an open, multi cloud platform and building for interoperability so we can speed up time to value for your AI investments,” said Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian during his keynote speech at Google Cloud Next 2025.
Google Cloud’s parent company Alphabet is set to report its financial results from the first quarter of 2025 earnings, the three months spanning from January to March, on April 24 at 1:30 p.m. PT.
[Related: Google Cloud’s 5 Big New Agentic AI Innovations And Go-To-Market Strategy For Partners]
Wall Street expects revenue from Google Cloud’s parent company Alphabet to reach $89.2 billion in total sales, which would represent an 11 percent year over year growth rate.
Looking back at Google Cloud’s fourth quarter 2024 results, the cloud unit generated $12 billion in revenue, up 30 percent year over year.
From its upcoming blockbuster $32 billion acquisition of cybersecurity star Wiz and artificial intelligence momentum with Gemini, to how U.S. President Donald Trump’s global tariff war could affect Google Cloud’s innovation or prices: here are the five things every Google customer, partner and investor should watch for ahead of Thursday’s first quarter financial earnings report.
Google Cloud’s Q1 2025 Sales Prediction: $12 Billion To $12.3 Billion
Financial analysts expect Google Cloud to report between $12 billion and $12.3 billion in total sales for the first quarter of 2025, according to firms like Jefferies and Refinitiv.
This would represent a year-over-year growth rate of between 25 percent to 28 percent in revenue compared to $9.6 billion Google Cloud reported in Q1 2024.
Google Cloud currently has a $48 billion annual run rate thanks to generating $12 billion in revenue during Q4 2024.
The Takeaway: If Wall Street is accurate, Google Cloud’s first quarter 2025 revenue of around $12.15 billion would be roughly on par with its year-over-year growth rate compared to the past several quarters of between 24 percent to 35 percent.
Click through to read the additional four big things to watch in Google’s upcoming earnings report.
Trump’s Tariffs Could Greatly Affect Google Cloud
U.S. President Donald Trump and his administration have caused turbulence in the tech industry by implementing or announcing a slew of new tariffs, including increasing tariffs on goods from China to 145 percent as well as 25 percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico.
Specifically for Google Cloud, expanded tariffs on steel and aluminum could hurt cloud data center providers like Google as those materials are used for technology such as server racks, cooling systems and other infrastructure inside data centers.
Trump’s tariffs could also add disruption to supply chain or delay Google’s plan to build new data centers to meet the growing demand for AI.
In another sign of the tariff disruptions to Google, Alphabet is reportedly in discussions with Indian manufacturers to relocate part of Google Pixel smartphone production from Vietnam to India due to potential U.S. tariffs on Vietnam, where Pixel phones are produced. The Trump administration had initially announced a 46 percent tariff on Vietnam compared to a tariff on India of 26 percent.
The Takeaway: Trump’s tariffs continue to cause turmoil throughout the entire tech industry. Investors and partners need to watch for Google CEO Sundar Pichai to weigh in on how tariffs might affect Google’s innovation, supply chain or investments for the rest of 2025.
Google Needs To Discuss $32 Billion Historic Wiz Merger
Google has been shy to dive into merger details about its upcoming $32 billion acquisition of cybersecurity star Wiz, first announced in March.
For example, at Google Cloud Next 2025 last week, Thomas Kurian only briefly mentioned Wiz. “We signed a definitive agreement to acquire Wiz, a leading multi-cloud security platform to provide better cybersecurity alternatives for businesses and governments around the world,” Kurian said in his only mention of Wiz during his keynote.
Wiz marks Google’s largest acquisition in its history.
When complete, Wiz will be operating under Google Cloud. It’s not clear if it will operate as an independent entity within Google Cloud or be fully integrated.
The deal should strengthen Google Cloud’s position in the cybersecurity market against competitors like Microsoft and Amazon.
The deal awaits regulatory approval with an expected closure in 2026.
The Takeaway: Partners and customers are waiting to hear more information about the plan to leverage Wiz inside Google Cloud, which could disrupt the cloud security market in Google’s favor. Google said it will combine the two companies to build the next generation of security offers for the multi-cloud and hybrid cloud era with AI protection included. However, more information and details should be revealed on Thursday.
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AI Momentum With Gemini
Every tech company in 2025 has to provide as much data and AI numbers as possible to help ease customers’ and investors’ minds that AI is their top priority. Google Cloud is no different.
In a blockbuster move this year, Google unveiled that it integrated its Gemini AI technology inside Workspace free of charge for users with a subscription.
“Gemini is integrated across our own products, including Google Workspace where Gemini powers features in Gmail, Docs, Drive, and Meet, and is now included in all subscriptions,” said Kurian during his keynote last week.
“We’re seeing more than 4 million developers using Gemini, a 20-time increase in Vertex AI usage last year driven by the strong adoption of Gemini Flash, Gemini 2.0, Imagin 3.0 and most recently, our advanced video generation model,” he said. “And over 2 billion AI assists monthly to business users, right within Google Workspace.”
Google unveiled recently that Gemini global app downloads in March increased 9 percent month over month to 10.6 million.
Additionally, Google Cloud has launched a slew of new offerings for Gemini, including Gemini version 2.5, Gemini available on the Google Distributed Cloud for on-premise environments, and new features for Workspace.
The Takeaway: Google is expected to dive into Gemini momentum and adoption rates for the first quarter of 2025. With Gemini now injected into Workspace and other Google tech, it will be interesting to see just how many users and businesses are now leveraging Gemini.
Will Operating Income Continue To Grow
Prior to 2023, Google Cloud was always operating in the red when it came to operating income. However, the cloud company has turned it around and generated $191 million in net income in the first quarter of 2023.
The company’s operating income hit a record-breaking $2.1 billion in Q4 2024, up a whopping 142 percent increase year over year.
Google Cloud reported operating income of $1.9 billion in Q3 2024, compared to $266 million in Q3 2023.
The Takeaway: Google Cloud’s operating income has increased quarter after quarter. It will be interesting to see if Google Cloud record-breaking operating income pace continues in 2025.
