Alphabet Falls on Cloud Growth Fears

Here's our initial take on Alphabet's (NASDAQ: GOOG) fourth-quarter financial report.Alphabet's fourth-quarter financials showed solid gains. Overall sales growth of 12% came in just shy of the consensus forecast among those following the stock, with Google Search, YouTube, and various other services helping to produce consistent growth. Net income climbed 28% year over year, and a modest decline in outstanding shares helped boost earnings-per-share figures at an even faster 31% rate.Many investors are watching the Google Cloud business closely, seeing it as the main growth driver to offset any competitive challenges to Alphabet's core search business. Gains of 30% in segment revenue reflected the success of the Google Cloud Platform and various new initiatives, including artificial intelligence infrastructure and generative AI solutions. However, Alphabet shareholders had anticipated Google Cloud revenue well above the $12 billion mark, making the actual figures a bit of a disappointment.Continue readingWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei MotleyFool Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei MotleyFool