"Alphabet's Q4 Revenue Miss Sparks Stock Drop, Potential Boost for Amazon and Meta"

Alphabet's stock dropped over 5% after the company's fourth quarter earnings missed expectations on ad revenue, despite reporting higher revenue and continued growth in its cloud business. The company is focusing on streamlining its business to achieve cost savings and efficiency, including laying off hundreds of workers and investing in AI. Google executives addressed concerns about AI disrupting search products, emphasizing that AI tools expand Google's capabilities. Despite the miss on ad revenue, the company's cloud revenue beat expectations, signaling its growing importance to investors.