Google vs Post Holdings: Revenue, Profit and Business Model
Google reported $402.8B of revenue in FY2025 and $132.2B of net income. Post Holdings reported $6.2B of revenue in FY2026 and $242.1M of net income.
Latest financial snapshot
- Latest revenue
- $402.8B (FY2025)
- Net income
- $132.2B
- Net margin
- 32.8%
- Revenue growth
- +18.1% a year, FY2016–FY2025
Post Holdings
- Latest revenue
- $6.2B (FY2026)
- Net income
- $242.1M
- Net margin
- 3.9%
- Revenue growth
- +2.1% a year, FY2016–FY2026
Financial summary
Alphabet's FY2025 Form 10-K reported $402.836 billion of revenue and $132.170 billion of net income, making it one of the most profitable companies in the world. Growth accelerated in 2026: Q2 2026 revenue rose 24% year over year to $119.8 billion, operating income rose 30% to $40.8 billion and operating margin reached 34.0%. Reported Q2 net income of $112.1 billion was inflated by a $99.0 billion gain, mostly unrealized gains on equity holdings, so operating income is the cleaner measure. The trade-off is spending: management raised 2026 capital expenditure guidance to $195-205 billion, and analysts flagged negative free cash flow in Q2 2026 as data-center investment outpaced operating cash flow.
Post Holdings
Post Holdings grew net sales from $4.71 billion in fiscal 2020 to $8.158 billion in fiscal 2025, mostly through acquisitions such as the Smucker pet food brands (2023), Perfection Pet Foods (2023), Potato Products of Idaho (March 2025) and 8th Avenue Food & Provisions (July 2025). Fiscal 2025 net earnings were $335.7 million. For the nine months to June 30, 2026, net sales rose to $6.166 billion and Adjusted EBITDA to $1.191 billion, while net earnings fell 15% to $242.1 million on higher interest costs. Post does not pay a dividend and repurchased 9.1 million shares for $908.8 million in the first nine months of fiscal 2026. Management narrowed fiscal 2026 Adjusted EBITDA guidance to $1.56-$1.57 billion.
Revenue and profit by year
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | $402.8B | $132.2B | 32.8% | +15.1% | Source |
| FY2024 | $350B | $100.1B | 28.6% | +13.9% | Source |
| FY2023 | $307.4B | $73.8B | 24.0% | +8.7% | Source |
| FY2022 | $282.8B | $60B | 21.2% | +9.8% | Source |
| FY2021 | $257.6B | $76B | 29.5% | +41.2% | Source |
| FY2020 | $182.5B | $40.3B | 22.1% | +12.8% | Source |
| FY2019 | $161.9B | $34.3B | 21.2% | +18.3% | Source |
| FY2018 | $136.8B | $30.7B | 22.5% | +23.4% | Source |
| FY2017 | $110.9B | $12.7B | 11.4% | +22.8% | Source |
| FY2016 | $90.3B | $19.5B | 21.6% | — | Source |
Post Holdings
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2026 | $6.2B | $242.1M | 3.9% | -24.4% | Source |
| FY2025 | $8.2B | $335.7M | 4.1% | +3.0% | Source |
| FY2024 | $7.9B | $366.7M | 4.6% | +13.3% | Source |
| FY2023 | $7B | $301.3M | 4.3% | +19.5% | Source |
| FY2022 | $5.9B | $756.6M | 12.9% | +17.5% | Source |
| FY2021 | $5B | $166.7M | 3.3% | +5.7% | Source |
| FY2020 | $4.7B | $800,000 | 0.0% | -17.1% | Source |
| FY2019 | $5.7B | $124.7M | 2.2% | -9.2% | Source |
| FY2018 | $6.3B | $467.3M | 7.5% | +19.7% | Source |
| FY2017 | $5.2B | $48.3M | 0.9% | +4.0% | Source |
| FY2016 | $5B | -$3.3M | -0.1% | — | Source |
Where the revenue comes from
- Google Search advertising~12%
Auction-based text and shopping ads served alongside organic search results, generating approximately $198 billion in FY2024 through cost-per-click and cost-per-impression pricing.
- YouTube advertising~12%
Video advertising across pre-roll, mid-roll, display, and Shorts formats, plus subscription revenue from YouTube Premium, Music, and YouTube TV, totaling approximately $36 billion in ad revenue for FY2024.
- Google Cloud~12%
Infrastructure-as-a-service, platform tools, Vertex AI, BigQuery, Mandiant cybersecurity, and Google Workspace subscriptions, generating significant FY2025 revenue.
- Google Network~12%
Ads placed on third-party websites through AdSense, AdMob, and Google Ad Manager, generating approximately $31 billion in FY2024 with revenue shared with publishers.
- Other Bets~12%
Revenue from Waymo autonomous ride-hailing, Verily health technology, hardware sales (Pixel, Nest, Fitbit), Google Play commissions, and other non-advertising sources.
Post Holdings
- Post Consumer Brands
Not formally reported
Cereal, granola, pet food, nut butters, and pantry products.
- Weetabix
Not formally reported
U.K. cereal and breakfast products.
- Foodservice
Not formally reported
Egg products and foodservice ingredients.
- Refrigerated Retail
Not formally reported
Bob Evans side dishes, sausage and egg products. The Crystal Farms dairy business was sold on May 1, 2026.
Business model and strategy
How it makes money
Alphabet makes money mainly by selling ads against user intent and attention. Google Search & other, YouTube ads and the Google Network together account for roughly three quarters of revenue. Advertisers bid in real-time auctions to appear next to queries or videos, and Google charges per click, view or conversion.
Growth strategy
Alphabet's growth plan has four parts: put Gemini into Search (AI Overviews and AI Mode), Workspace, Android and Chrome to keep users and advertisers engaged; sell AI infrastructure, TPUs and Gemini models through Google Cloud, backed by the Wiz security platform acquired in March 2026; grow subscriptions such as YouTube Premium, YouTube TV and Google One AI plans;
Competitive advantage
Alphabet's edge is a stack few rivals own end to end: default distribution through Android and Chrome, the largest pool of search-intent data, YouTube's video audience, its own TPU chips and global data centers, and frontier models from Google DeepMind.
Post Holdings
How it makes money
Post makes money by manufacturing and selling packaged food through four segments. Post Consumer Brands sells branded and private-label cereal and granola (Honey Bunches of Oats, Pebbles, Malt-O-Meal), pet food (Rachael Ray Nutrish, Nature's Recipe, 9Lives, Kibbles 'n Bits) and Peter Pan peanut butter to grocery, mass and club retailers.
Growth strategy
Post grows mainly by buying businesses and integrating them into existing plants and sales teams. Recent moves include the $1.2 billion purchase of Smucker pet food brands (April 2023), Perfection Pet Foods for $235 million (December 2023), Potato Products of Idaho (March 2025) and 8th Avenue Food & Provisions (July 2025).
Competitive advantage
Post's edge is scale in less glamorous categories plus a capital-allocation discipline that treats acquisitions, debt and buybacks as interchangeable uses of cash. Michael Foods is a major supplier of value-added eggs to foodservice, Weetabix is the UK's number-one selling ready-to-eat cereal brand, and Post Consumer Brands covers both branded and private-label cereal, which lets it sell to shoppers who trade down.
Questions about Google vs Post Holdings
Which company has higher revenue — Alphabet Inc. or Post Holdings, Inc.?
Alphabet Inc. reported $402.8B (FY2025), while Post Holdings, Inc. reported $6.2B (FY2026). By last reported revenue, Alphabet Inc. is the larger business, with Post Holdings, Inc. reporting a smaller revenue base. Note: these are from different fiscal years and are not a direct like-for-like comparison.
What is the market cap of Alphabet Inc. vs Post Holdings, Inc.?
Alphabet Inc.'s market capitalisation stands at $4.31T, while Post Holdings, Inc.'s is $4.7B. Alphabet Inc. carries the higher market valuation, reflecting investors' expectations of its future earnings power relative to Post Holdings, Inc..
Which is more financially efficient — Alphabet Inc. or Post Holdings, Inc.?
Alphabet Inc. generates $2.11M / employee in revenue per employee, while Post Holdings, Inc. generates $468k / employee. Alphabet Inc. shows higher revenue efficiency per headcount, though this reflects business model differences — capital-light software companies routinely outperform labour-intensive manufacturers on this metric.
How do Alphabet Inc. and Post Holdings, Inc. make money?
Alphabet Inc. and Post Holdings, Inc. generate revenue in fundamentally different ways. Alphabet Inc.: Alphabet makes money mainly by selling ads against user intent and attention. Post Holdings, Inc.: Post makes money by manufacturing and selling packaged food through four segments.
Which company is valued higher relative to revenue — Alphabet Inc. or Post Holdings, Inc.?
On a price-to-sales (P/S) basis, Alphabet Inc. trades at 10.7x P/S and Post Holdings, Inc. at 0.8x P/S. Alphabet Inc. commands a higher revenue multiple, typically indicating that investors expect faster growth or higher future margins compared to Post Holdings, Inc.. A higher multiple is not inherently better — it may also signal that the stock is priced for perfection.
Is Alphabet Inc. bigger than Post Holdings, Inc.?
By last reported revenue, Alphabet Inc. ($402.8B (FY2025)) is the larger company compared to Post Holdings, Inc. ($6.2B (FY2026)). Revenue scale is one dimension of size — market capitalisation, employee count, and geographic reach are also relevant depending on the context.
Figures come from each company's filings and the sources linked beside them. Amounts reported in another currency are shown in US dollars at an approximate rate and marked with ~. Back to the Google vs Post Holdings overview