By Spencer Feingold

Google released its first-quarter earnings on Monday after the bell, posting a slightly lower-than-expected $36.34 billion in revenue.

The company was expected to post $37.33 billion in revenue — a nearly 20 percent increase from the $31.15 billion expected in Q1 of 2018, according to analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters. Google’s parent company, Alphabet ($GOOGL), however, reported a higher-than-expected earnings per share at $11.90, up from the expected $10.61.

The internet giant’s stock fell quickly in after hours trading on Monday.

“It is a disappointment and a surprise and the stock right now is reacting as a result of that,” Mark Newton, the president and founder of the financial firm Newton Advisors, told Cheddar.

Since its founding by Larry Page and Sergey Brin in 1998, Google has developed numerous brands like Android and Chrome and operates major subsidiary brands like YouTube. The company employs 90,000 people worldwide.

"We delivered robust growth led by mobile search, YouTube, and Cloud with Alphabet revenues of $36.3 billion, up 17% versus last year, or 19% on a constant currency basis," Ruth Porat, Alphabet’s chief financial officer, said in a statement.

Investors have largely been opportunistic about Google and its sustained growth — the company’s stock has been up around 22 percent year-to-date. The company reported a total of $137 million in revenue in 2018 and $111 million in 2017.

“Even as some parts of the economy are weaker than other, [Google] is still able to grind out really high quality, consistent earnings growth,” Michael Purves, chief global strategist at the financial firm Weeden & Co., told Cheddar on Monday ahead of the earnings release.

Wall Street was also eager for the Q1 earning to see how competition from other tech giants like Amazon and new regulations have affected Google’s bottom line. Just last month, the European Union fined the company $1.7 billion for unfair advertising practices.

"We remain focused on, and excited by, the significant growth opportunities across our businesses," Porat’s statement added.