Alphabet shares fell 12% after its third-quarter report, as Search & other revenue grew 12% to $63.4 billion, about $1.5 billion short of estimates, and free cash flow came in at negative $9.1 billion. Search queries hit their highest level in five years, but management named currency as the biggest factor in the slowdown, while Chief business officer Philipp Schindler pointed to lower monetization in AI Mode. Capex hit $51.4 billion, and Alphabet kept its $195 billion to $205 billion annual forecast, implying another $63 billion to $73 billion in the fourth quarter. Google Cloud revenue rose 103% to $30.7 billion, with operating margin up to 36% from 24%. Microsoft's free cash flow fell 27% to $18.6 billion but stayed positive, and after the drop Alphabet trades around 20x forward earnings versus a five-year average of 23x.
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GOOGLearningsfree cash flowcloud computingartificial intelligence
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Related tickers and likely impact
GOOGL
▼ Likely negativeAlphabet Inc. (Class A)
Relevance: high
| Market | US stocks |
|---|---|
| Sector | Communication Services |
| Industry | Interactive Media & Services |
| Market cap | $4.0T |
| Close on 10/28/2026 | 325.61 |
| Change that session | +1.57% |
QQQ
▼ Likely negativeInvesco QQQ Trust
Relevance: low
| Market | US stocks |
|---|---|
| Sector | ETF |
| Close on 10/28/2026 | 725.59 |
| Change that session | +0.60% |
Impact is scored by AI from the headline and may be wrong. It is not investment advice.
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