On Thursday, October 29, Alphabet closed at $283.82, down 12.6% on the day. It’s the worst session since it began trading in 2004, and almost $500 billion of market value vanished in a single day.
What went wrong in the results
The company reported its third-quarter numbers on Wednesday the 28th, after the market had closed. Here’s what the market expected and what actually came out.
| Item | Expected | Actual |
|---|---|---|
| Earnings per share (adjusted) | $3.02 | $2.67 |
| Revenue | $128,220M | $127,577M |
| Search revenue | $64,960M | $63,350M (+12%) |
| Free cash flow | -$2,700M | -$9,065M |
It’s the first time in almost four years that Alphabet has missed on revenue and on earnings per share at the same time. And Google admits that its AI Mode still monetizes less than classic search.
The money going out
In the quarter it invested $51,355 million. Free cash flow came in at -$9,065 million, a figure that already includes $5,200 million for a 2018 EU fine. And from January to September it didn’t buy back a single share; it issued new ones instead. Long-term debt went from $46,547 million to $125,102 million.
The good news: the cloud
Not everything was bad. Google Cloud brought in $30,709 million, up 103%.
What options were pricing in
Before the results, options were pricing in a move of around ±6% (±5.8% according to Earnings Watcher and ±6.05% according to TipRanks). The stock fell more than double that. Worth remembering: what options price in is an estimate, not a ceiling.
If you want to see what happens to implied volatility once earnings are out, there’s the article on the IV crash in earnings, or the case of Netflix, which fell 8% after beating expectations. GOOGL’s options, with their expirations and prices, are in the option chain of ProRealTime.
Data as of the October 29, 2026 close. Sources: Alphabet’s third-quarter earnings release and its 10-Q, CNBC, LSEG and Nasdaq via Yahoo Finance. Educational content: not investment advice.
