Google Cloud broke $4 billion in quarterly revenues at a yearly uptick of 46% – but while losses crept towards the billion dollar mark, things are going in the right direction.

Total revenue for Google Cloud in Q121 was $4.05bn (£2.92bn), compared with $2.78bn for the first quarter of 2020. The company made a loss of $974m in the quarter, compared with $1.73bn this time last year, with this only the second quarter Alphabet broke out full operating income for Google Cloud in its reporting.

Google Cloud revenue comprised 7.31% of total Alphabet revenues.

Chief executive Sundar Pichai noted three trends which were shaping Google Cloud’s product and go-to-market strategy in remarks to analysts.

The first was strong momentum in the ‘data cloud’, citing companies such as Twitter – known for both Google Cloud and AWS relationships – and the need for real-time data and analytics. The second was ‘robust infrastructure’ and the large scale IT transformation deals associated with data centre migration. The third was around Google Workspace, the product offering formerly known as G-Suite, and the wider collaboration play.

Pichai also specifically cited artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) and how it is impacting Google Cloud’s financial services customers. Customers cited included HSBC, who migrated its Corda enterprise blockchain technology during the quarter, and Commerzbank, who continued its partnership with an announcement in March.

Google Cloud, as is expected of a challenger, made plenty of noise over the past three months. Another customer win was gained in the manufacturing sector, with Siemens integrating Google Cloud’s ML and AI technologies with its factory automation products. The company also opened its data centre region in Warsaw earlier this month.

Ruth Porat, chief financial officer, warned against extrapolating ‘generally from quarter-to-quarter’ as Google Cloud was still in the early days of building its business. “We do intend to continue to invest meaningfully in cloud given the opportunity,” Porat added.

According to figures from GlobalData earlier this week, Google Cloud continues to be a focal point of Alphabet’s investment. GlobalData argued Google Cloud now accounts for almost a third of all job postings placed by Alphabet over the past 15 months.

You can read the full Alphabet earnings report here.

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