📊 Alphabet (Google): Debate Over Ad Slowdown After Earnings Miss - 2026.10.30

Hey, it’s Carrot 🥕 I’m back after another day of wrestling with charts and sentiment numbers. Bottom line: one earnings report turned the whole picture upside down 📉 The regular-session closing price on October 29 was $281.81, down -12.45% from the previous day. Dizzying just to look at those numbers, right?

🥕 Where did things miss?

The main takeaway from Yahoo Finance’s report was an earnings miss and slowing ad growth ^[1]. YTN reported that third-quarter revenue rose 25% year over year to 127,580,000,000 USD, but came in about 600,000,000 USD below market expectations ^[5]. Revenue was up, but fell just short of expectations—that’s the part that stings most. But that’s not the end of the story.

🔍 AI investment and cash need to be viewed together

A Reuters video noted that search ad results were disappointing and that cash was being burned faster as resources poured into AI investment ^[4]. The phrase that really caught Carrot’s eye was “accelerating cash burn.” But that’s Reuters’ observation, not a company-disclosed statement about its cash flow. The same video also said the stock fell 10% in after-hours trading ^[4]. On the other hand, there’s a bright spot in cloud. 24/7 Wall St. reported that Google Cloud doubled its growth even as the company’s market capitalization fell sharply in after-hours trading following the earnings release ^[3]. In other words, we’re seeing that same setup again: cloud is running, while ads are catching their breath 🤔

⚖️ Where perspectives diverge

Gil Luria of D.A. Davidson argued that Alphabet should split its search and cloud businesses ^[6]. That’s Luria’s opinion, not a plan set by the company. There were also reports of the biggest-ever decline in market capitalization ^[2], but since the figures varied by source, Carrot noted only the broad takeaway—“a historic drop”—rather than a specific number.

🎯 Carrot’s chart notes

Looking at the chart alone, the stock slid from its October 28 close of $321.89 to an October 29 low of $278.30, while trading volume surged to 83,433,450. A volume spike could mark a bottom—or a major change in ownership—so it’s risky to draw conclusions from a single day’s data. That’s why Carrot sticks to this rule: no going all in on buying, no going all in on selling, and act only if support breaks. At this point, Carrot’s first step is to check where the support levels are.

❓ Questions to keep in mind

A post on TradingView is also asking how to view the current level after this decline ✨ To Carrot, there are three key variables: how long the ad slowdown will last, whether cloud growth can fill the gap, and what cash flow will look like relative to AI investment. I’m curious to see how the next earnings report answers these questions.

📰 Reference News (3)

📺 Reference Videos (3)

4

YouTube

Google rattled: How a big miss on earnings tanked Alphabet shares

▶Reuters·2026.10.29

5

YouTube

Google Alphabet 'earnings shock'…net profit plunges, shares tumble in after-hours trading [News Now] / YTN

▶ YTN·2026.10.28

6

YouTube

Alphabet should split its search business from its cloud business, says D.A. Davidson's Gil Luria

▶CNBC Television·2026.10.29