Alphabet Shares Slide More Than 12% After Earnings, Erasing Nearly $500 Billion

Alphabet shares fell more than 12% to $285 after third-quarter results, erasing nearly $500 billion in market value as investors weighed fast cloud growth against an earnings miss and negative free cash flow.

Google Cloud revenue climbed 103% year over year to $30.7 billion, and its operating margin expanded to 36.2% from 23.7%. Alphabet’s earnings per share fell short of expectations, while free cash flow was negative amid continued AI infrastructure investment.

Analyst Mike Khouw said a quick rebound faces pressure from multiple firms lowering ratings, price targets or earnings forecasts, alongside technical damage after the post-earnings gap down. He noted shares were near the $270.70 52-week low and the relative strength index (RSI) was in the low 20s, a deeply oversold level he said may limit further declines. Khouw also cited a stronger sell signal from the moving average convergence divergence (MACD) indicator.

Cloud growth was strong, but the results left cash generation and the cost of AI buildout at the center of the market’s reaction.