Google’s revenue grew, but Wall Street wanted more.
Parent company Alphabet’s stock fell more than 4% after financial results came out Monday, even as profits rose 19% and beat expectations for the last three months of the year.
Helped by lower taxes, Alphabet said Monday it earned $10.7 billion, or $15.35 per share, more than the $12.49 a share analysts polled by FactSet were expecting. Net revenue, after subtracting advertising costs, was $37.6 billion, up 18% from a year ago. But analysts were looking for $38.4 billion.
This was the second rocky quarter in a row for the online search leader. Its third quarter brought higher-than-expected revenue but a profit shortfall due to higher spending on new hires, data centers and other expenses.
