The title of most value company in the US has been passed between technology companies for several decades.<\/p>\n
Apple became the United States’ most valuable company in 2010, when it dislodged Microsoft. Microsoft in turn overtook IBM two decades earlier.<\/p>\n
During a conference call to discuss the earnings, Alphabet’s chief financial officer, Ruth Porat, said sales in the UK were up 20% from last year.<\/p>\n
Because the UK is such a large part of the business, it is the only territory outside the US for which the company breaks down its sales figures.<\/p>\n
It is currently at the centre of a tax row in the UK after it agreed to pay \u00a3130m in back taxes that stretch back to 2005. The agreement was seen by some as too lenient for the internet giant.<\/p>\n
What is after-hours trading?<\/strong><\/p>\n \uf0a7When investors buy and sell shares outside the regular opening hours of major exchanges<\/p>\n \uf0a7It exists because big financial institutions want to trade large blocks of shares 24 hours a day<\/p>\n \uf0a7Adopted in the 1990s by financial institutions and some rich investors; the growth of online trading led to ordinary investors being able to take part a few years later<\/p>\n \uf0a7Riskier than trading during regular hours – trading volumes are lower and share prices can be more volatile, meaning the spreads between the buying and selling prices of shares can be wider<\/p>\n \uf0a7With less information available it can be harder to work out what’s behind some after-hours price movements, leaving small investors at a disadvantage<\/p>\n \uf0a7But potential profits can be higher Alphabet- Google’s parent company- has surpassed Apple as the world’s most valuable company after its latest earnings report. The company posted net income of $4.9bn (\u00a33.4bn) for the fourth quarter, an increase from $4.7bn a year ago. The announcement sent its share price up as much as 9% in after-hours trading. That means that Alphabet […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[106],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n![\"Google](\"http:\/\/4cd.e16.myftpupload.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Google-1.jpg\")
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\nBy: BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"