Alphabet sinks about 13%, on pace for its worst post-earnings day since its 2004 IPO, erasing roughly $500 billion; Nasdaq down 1.3%

Alphabet (GOOGL) extended its after-hours slide into the regular session on Thursday. By around 12:35 p.m. ET the stock was down about 13%, putting it on track for its steepest post-earnings drop since it went public in 2004. The previous worst post-earnings move was a slide of nearly 10% in July 2008.

Why it is falling: Third-quarter ad revenue came in at $82 billion against expectations near $83.4 billion, with Search at about $63 billion versus roughly $65 billion expected. Free cash flow was negative $9.1 billion, while analysts had looked for roughly breakeven (LSEG data via Reuters). Alphabet kept its 2026 capex forecast at $195 billion to $205 billion and said spending would rise significantly in 2027. Google Cloud revenue more than doubled to about $31 billion, but investors focused on cash burn and on whether AI is starting to eat into Search.

Why it matters: Alphabet is one of the largest weights in the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100, so a move of this size drags index funds on its own. The day also showed a rotation: tech fell while small caps rallied after Wednesday’s Fed hold and Thursday’s 3.4% Q3 GDP print. Yahoo Finance counts 18 sessions in 2026 so far in which a single US stock lost $200 billion or more, versus 13 in all of 2025.

Elsewhere in tech: ServiceNow was down about 25% and Fortinet about 21% after their reports, while Microsoft gave back its after-hours gain despite beating estimates.

WMR data: Before the report, GOOGL was already 19.2% below its high and down 5.2% over the past month (WMR close data, Oct. 28). Earnings details: Alphabet Q3 results. Track the stock at /en/topics/alphabet/.

Next: Thursday’s closing price (a close near $274.75 would top Nvidia’s record loss, per Yahoo Finance), Amazon’s results after the bell, and whether other AI spenders trim or hold their capex plans.