Advertising slump sinks Google investor confidence despite overall high revenue

Alphabet stock slid more than 5% in after-hours trading Tuesday despite narrowly beating overall revenue predictions for quarter four of 2023 after the tech giant fell short in its key advertising sector. The Google parent company reported a miss on predicted advertising revenue at 65.52bn compared to 65.8bn, but beat predictions for overall revenue at 86.31bn compared to 85.36bn – up 13% year over year. Referencing the overall revenue beat, Alphabet chief financial officer called the results "very strong". "We remain committed to our work to durably re-engineer our cost base as we invest to support our growth opportunities," she said. The lukewarm response to the report comes after the Google parent company laid off 1,000 employees in January, according to the Alphabet Workers Union.