Alphabet comes before Apple as world's most valuable company

SAN FRANCISCO — Alphabet now comes before Apple atop the list of the world's most valuable companies.

The shift occurred in Monday's extended trading after Alphabet, Google's new parent company, released a fourth-quarter earnings report that highlighted the robust growth of the digital ad market. Apple Inc.'s iPhone, meanwhile, is suffering its first downturn since it debuted eight years ago.

Alphabet Inc. earned $4.9 billion on revenue of $21.3 billion in the fourth quarter. If not for employee stock expenses and certain other items, Alphabet said it would have earned $8.67 per share. That figure easily topped the average estimate of $8.10 per share among analysts surveyed by FactSet.

http://www.startribune.com/google-profit-soars-easily-coverings-losses-on-other-bets/367266531/