Alphabet Q3 revenue falls short of estimates despite 25% growth, shares drop 9%

Alphabet Inc. reported third-quarter revenue below Wall Street expectations Wednesday, sending shares down about 9% to $295.20 within an hour after the market closed. The Google parent posted revenue of $127.58 billion, up 25% year-over-year but short of the $127.97 billion analysts expected, according to a FactSet poll. Net income fell to $26.17 billion in the July-September period from $34.98 billion a year earlier. Earnings came in at $2.12 per share, affected by an $8.7 billion loss on equity investments in the quarter. It was not immediately clear whether the reported figure is comparable to analyst estimates of around $3.01 per share. CEO Sundar Pichai said the company is "now on a half-trillion dollar revenue run rate" and that the Gemini AI app has reached one billion users, calling it the fastest-growing product in Google's history.