Google Shrugs Off $5.1 Billion Fine With Another Big Quarter -- NYT

Also see Alphabet’s experimental investments in the future continue to cost it a fortune (The Verge)

"Less than a week after the European Union fined Google a record $5.1 billion for abusing its dominance in the smartphone market, Google’s parent company, Alphabet, said on Monday it had already absorbed the cost of the fine and still made $3.2 billion in profits in its latest quarter.

Alphabet’s stock rose 3.5 percent in after-hours trading, and some analysts recommended the company’s shares. With the regulatory issue settled, they said, Google could get back to focusing on selling ads across the internet.

“It’s like a delivery company having to pay for a parking ticket,” Brian Wieser, a Pivotal Research analyst, said of the penalty, which Alphabet accounted for in the second quarter. “It’s not a meaningful fine in the context of the size of this company.”"

Google Shrugs Off $5.1 Billion Fine With Another Big Quarter -- NYT