MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (AP) _ Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) on Thursday reported second-quarter profit of $6.96 billion.

On a per-share basis, the Mountain View, California-based company said it had profit of $10.13.

The results surpassed Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of 11 analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $8.43 per share.

The internet search leader posted revenue of $38.3 billion in the period. After subtracting Alphabet's advertising commissions, revenue was $31.6 billion, also topping Street forecasts. Nine analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $30.58 billion.

Alphabet shares have increased 15% since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index has stayed nearly flat. In the final minutes of trading on Thursday, shares hit $1,538.37, a climb of 25% in the last 12 months.

This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on GOOGL at https://www.zacks.com/ap/GOOGL

Automated Insights, source Associated Press News