Alphabet Inc., Google's parent company, reported a significant drop in its stock price following the announcement of its fourth-quarter earnings for 2024. Despite surpassing earnings per share expectations with $2.15 against $2.13, the company missed revenue forecasts, particularly in its cloud business. Alphabet's cloud revenue grew by 30% year-over-year to $43 billion, but it fell short of analysts' expectations. The company also announced plans to invest $75 billion in capital expenditures in 2025, focusing on artificial intelligence (AI) initiatives. This substantial investment in AI, which is 29% more than Wall Street anticipated, contributed to investor concerns about profitability and led to a 7% to 9% drop in Alphabet's shares during pre-market and after-hours trading. The company's fourth-quarter revenue was $96.5 billion, up 12% from the previous year. Google's search revenue increased by 13% year-over-year, while YouTube's revenue grew by 14% to $36 billion.