MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (AP) _ Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) on Tuesday reported fourth-quarter profit of $15.23 billion.

On a per-share basis, the Mountain View, California-based company said it had net income of $22.30.

The results exceeded Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of 15 analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $15.91 per share.

The internet search leader posted revenue of $56.9 billion in the period. After subtracting Alphabet's advertising commissions, revenue was $46.43 billion, also topping Street forecasts. Eleven analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $44.09 billion.

Alphabet shares have climbed almost 10% since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index has risen almost 2%. In the final minutes of trading on Tuesday, shares hit $1,922.12, a climb of 30% 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

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