(Reuters) – Alphabet reported lower-than-expected quarterly revenue on Thursday as parent Google’s advertising business suffered from the economic slowdown.
Alphabet shares, which lost about 40% of their value in 2022, were down about 4% in aftermarket trading.
Google’s ad revenue, which includes search and YouTube, fell to $59.04 billion from $61.24 billion, as advertisers – top contributors to Alphabet’s sales – cut spending to cope inflation, high interest rates and fears of recession.
Alphabet’s net income fell to $13.62 billion, or $1.05 per share, from $20.64 billion, or $1.53 per share, a year ago.
Group revenue was $76.05 billion in the fourth quarter, up from $75.33 billion a year earlier and a consensus of $76.53 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv .
(Nivedita Balu in Bangalore and Greg Bensinger in San Francisco, French version Tangi Salaün)
Copyright © 2023 Thomson Reuters