Alphabet's Holiday Ad Revenue Disappoints, Shares Drop 4%

Alphabet disappointed Wall Street with lower-than-expected holiday season ad revenue, attributing the shortfall to tough competition from platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Amazon. The company also announced increased spending on data centers to support its AI plans, leading to a 45% jump in capital expenditures. While Google's cloud revenue slightly exceeded expectations, it faces stiff competition from Microsoft's Azure. Despite a re-acceleration in cloud revenue growth, concerns about geopolitical and economic uncertainty impacting ad buyers persist. Overall revenue for the quarter ended Dec. 31 was $86.3 billion, slightly surpassing estimates.