Alphabet Shares Drop Over Disappointing Q4 Ad Revenue Despite Overall Revenue Beat
• Alphabet stock drops over 5% after missing Q4 earnings expectations for ad revenue • Total revenue was $72.32B vs expected $70.97B, but ad revenue specifically missed at $65.5B vs $65.8B expected • Google Cloud revenue beat expectations at $9.19B, up 26% year-over-year • Executives cite importance of efficiency and cost savings, resulting in slower hiring pace • Comes after recent layoffs across multiple divisions as Google aims to cut costs