Alphabet shares fall over 10% after third-quarter profit and revenue miss Wall Street estimates

Alphabet, Google's parent company, reported third-quarter results on Wednesday that fell short of Wall Street expectations, and its shares fell more than 10% in after-hours trading. Net profit slid 25% from a year earlier to $26.2 billion, or $2.12 a share, in the July-to-September period, well below analyst estimates. Revenue rose 25% to $127.6 billion, slightly under the roughly $128 billion analysts had forecast. Advertising revenue grew 11% to $82 billion, and Google Cloud revenue jumped 103% to $30.7 billion. Alphabet booked an $8.7 billion loss on equity investments, which it attributed to its stake in SpaceX, and reported negative free cash flow of $9.07 billion. Chief Financial Officer Anat Ashkenazi said capital expenditures driven by AI would increase significantly in 2027, while this year's capex forecast was unchanged.

Left sources, represented here by The Guardian, lead with the profit slide and an investor sell-off, headlining the story as investors turning on Alphabet after a profit miss, an ad slowdown and high spending. They feature the 25% profit drop, search growth slowing from 17% to 12%, and the SpaceX-linked loss. Right sources, represented by the New York Post, lead with cash flow, headlining that AI is battering the company's finances, and center Ashkenazi's capital spending comments and a $7.66 billion operating loss tied to Alphabet-level activities. Both sides agree on the missed estimates, the $127.6 billion revenue, the share drop and heavy AI spending, but differ in emphasis: the left centers profit and advertising, the right centers cash burn. Alternative source CNBC adds a distinct angle, arguing that the search shortfall may be an early sign that AI tools are taking business from traditional search, and quoting an analyst on AI bots becoming a starting point for commerce.