For Google, plenty of cash with nowhere to go

In announcing a $50-billion share buyback on Tuesday, Google-owner Alphabet Inc confirmed a paradoxical dynamic: its core advertising business is so profitable, and so dominant, that it has few options for usefully deploying its cash.

Alphabet reported record earnings on Tuesday, leaving its cash pile at about $135 billion, up $18 billion over the last year.

A surge in internet usage during the pandemic helped propel the Google search and YouTube advertising businesses that account for most of it revenue and profit.