With or without Pokémon, Google finds a way to impress

It's a good day for Alphabet.

The company formerly known as Google impressed investors Thursday with its second-quarter earnings report that exceeded expectations on all counts. Alphabet stock increased 5 percent in after-hours trading and rose to an all-time high of $810 per share.

The tech giant reported $17.5 billion in revenue compared to $16.9 billion expected. It overshot profits by bringing in $8.42 in earnings per share.

The results "reflect the successful investments we've made over many years in rapidly expanding areas such as mobile and video. We continue to invest responsibly in support of our many compelling opportunities,” Ruth Porat, Alphabet's chief financial officer, said in a statement.

At a time when Alphabet has been laughed at for spinning off a company that became the genius behind popular app Pokémon Go, the company is proving it can succeed in a world dominated by mobile ads. “I suspect a few of you are playing right now," Google CEO Sundar Pichai joked on an earnings call, referencing the mobile game.

Investors have been fearful of Alphabet's main business — the advertising within Google — struggling in the wake of Facebook's fast growth in the online ad industry. That potential downfall also comes with Alphabet's tendency to invest in expensive moonshots.

Alphabet failed to meet Wall Street's last quarter. Meanwhile, Facebook has continued to beat quarter, after quarter. Facebook's stock was at an all-time high at markets close Thursday, which comes after the company reported insanely impressive earnings.

The ad business is still a bit shaky for Google. Cost per click was down 7 percent while analysts predicted a 6 percent drop. However, paid clicks were up 29 percent compared to expectations of 27 percent.

Facebook and Google dominate other players in mobile advertising, like Yahoo and Twitter, and yet while Facebook captures more, Google may be falling behind or stagnating.

Facebook's share of digital ad revenues in the United States may rise from 14.7 percent to 16.1 percent from 2016 to 2017 while Google's is expected to drop from 37.4 percent to 35.4 percent, according to an eMarketer report.

"I wonder how fast is Facebook eating their lunch because it’s starting to get serious. Facebook owns mobile. They're absolutely killing it," Dana Blankenhorn, an analyst at Investorplace.com, told Mashable.

But Alphabet is growing in mobile and video while also making itself less dependent on that sole revenue source. Its other revenue category, which includes the enterprise cloud business, Google Play store and hardwares sales, reached $2.17 billion, up 33 percent from the second-quarter of 2016.

Alphabet has been working to retool and expand its cloud business, something that the internet giant had years before others. Yet, Amazon has built itself up to be a dominant cloud provider, drawing in $2.9 billion in revenue in its second quarter.

For consumer hardware, Google revealed Home, its latest smart home product within the internet of things, at its developers conference in May. Pichai also noted its success with Chromecast, its digital media player.

One of Alphabet's big bets also puts it head to head with Apple. Alphabet is testing self-driving cars in four markets: Mountain View, California; Austin, Texas; Kirkland, Washington; Phoenix.

"We'll continue to focus on building the best experiences around the world," Pichai told investors on the call.