Investors turn on Google owner Alphabet after profit miss, ad slowdown and high spending

Net profit slid 25% from a year earlier to $26.2bn, well short of expectations, though revenue rose to $127.6bn

Shares in Google parent Alphabet fell more than 10% in after-hours trading Wednesday, erasing tens of billions of dollars in stock market value from the $4tn tech giant. The company had reported lower-than-expected profit and a slowdown in its advertising business while it maintained big spending on AI.

Net profit slid 25% from a year earlier to $26.2bn in the July-to-September period, or $2.12 a share, well short of expectations by analysts surveyed by FactSet.

Alphabet booked an $8.7bn loss on its equity investments, which it attributed to its stake in SpaceX, the Elon Musk-led company where shares have struggled since going public in June.