Alphabet’s shares took a hit, dropping more than 7% on Wednesday after the search giant fell short of Wall Street’s expectations for fourth-quarter revenue, coupled with ambitious spending plans for its ongoing artificial intelligence development.
While the company exceeded earnings estimates by 2 cents per share, its revenue totaled $96.47 billion, missing the anticipated $96.56 billion as projected by LSEG. Overall, Alphabet reported a 12% increase in revenue compared to the previous year, but key areas such as YouTube advertising, search, and services experienced slower growth.
In a bold move, Alphabet announced plans to invest $75 billion in capital expenditures to enhance its AI capabilities, aiming to keep pace with its megacap competitors in the race to expand data centers and build new infrastructure.
This figure significantly surpassed Wall Street’s expectations of $58.84 billion.
Source (CNBC)
