Google parent Alphabet has delivered first-quarter results that beat Wall Street estimates, as its search business recovered from an advertising downturn, and its cloud unit became profitable for the first time.

Sales for the quarter totalled A$87.53 billion, well above analysts’ estimates of A$85.89 billion.

Net income was A$22.61 billion; at A$1.76 per share, this was also above Wall Street’s prediction of A$1.64.

The company has also announced a $105 billion share buyback, which saw share prices leap as much as 5.9 per cent during the day, before levelling.

Despite fending off major plays in the search arena by Microsoft’s OpenAI-infused Bing, as well as an economically driven dip in digital advertising across the whole market, Google’s ad sales managed to hold the course, falling slightly to A$82.23 billion from A$82.4 billion the year prior.

Compared to the 3.6 per cent fall seen in the December quarter, this marks a correction of sorts.

The company’s cloud unit brought in a profit of A$287.92 million, its first profit to date.

“We remain committed to delivering long-term growth and creating capacity to invest in our most compelling growth areas by re-engineering our cost base,” Chief Financial Officer Ruth Porat said of the results.

“We have seen ongoing headwinds in what we continue to describe as an ongoing challenging macroeconomic environment.”