Bulletin: Alphabet Inc.'s Strong Performance And Tax And Share Repurchase Announcements Do Not Affect Ratings

SAN FRANCISCO (S&P Global Ratings) Feb. 2, 2018--S&P Global Ratings today said that Mountain View, Calif.-based global technology provider Alphabet Inc.'s strong fourth-quarter results, and its announcements regarding U.S. tax reform and share repurchases, do not affect our 'AA+' rating on the company. Its revenue is up 24% year over year driven by mobile search. Traffic acquisition cost (TAC) was up to 23.7% of total advertising revenue, up 83 basis points (bps) from the prior quarter and 205 bps year over year, due to the mix shifting to mobile search and programmatic ad buying. Alphabet took a $9.9 billion charge due to the one-time transition tax on accumulated foreign subsidiary earnings and deferred tax impacts. We will treat the portion

...SAN FRANCISCO (S&P Global Ratings) Feb. 2, 2018--S&P Global Ratings today said that Mountain View, Calif.-based global technology provider Alphabet Inc.'s strong fourth-quarter results, and its announcements regarding U.S. tax reform and share repurchases, do not affect our '##+' rating on the company. Its revenue is up 24% year over year driven by mobile search. Traffic acquisition cost (TAC) was up to 23.7% of total advertising revenue, up 83 basis points (bps) from the prior quarter and 205 bps year over year, due to the mix shifting to mobile search and programmatic ad buying. Alphabet took a $9.9 billion charge due to the one-time transition tax on accumulated foreign subsidiary earnings and deferred tax impacts. We will treat the portion related to the transition tax as debt when calculating our credit metrics, assuming that the company will pay the amount owed over the eight-year period allowed by the reform. The company also announced an $8.6 billion increase to its share repurchase...

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