Breaking: Alphabet ($GOOG) Shares Drop 7% in PremarketAlphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: NASDAQ:GOOG ) witnessed a significant 7% drop in premarket trading on Wednesday, driven by investor concerns over slowing cloud growth and the tech giant’s hefty $75 billion investment into artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure. This figure far exceeded Wall Street’s projected $58 billion, raising doubts about the necessity and efficiency of such high spending.
AI Investment and Competitive Pressure
Alphabet has been aggressively investing in AI research and its integration across Google Search, Cloud services, and other platforms. However, the emergence of China’s low-cost DeepSeek AI model—which reportedly rivals leading U.S. AI models—has triggered discussions about whether Big Tech companies need to allocate billions toward AI advancements.
Cloud Growth Concerns
Alphabet's cloud division reported a 30% revenue increase to $11.96 billion in Q4, but this marked a slowdown compared to the 35% growth in Q3. In contrast, Microsoft Azure saw a 31% increase, while Amazon Web Services (AMZN) is projected to post only a 19% rise. Despite the slowdown, analysts believe the surging demand for AI-powered cloud computing will keep the long-term outlook positive for Alphabet’s cloud business.
Advertising Challenges
Beyond AI and cloud investments, Alphabet is grappling with fierce competition in the digital advertising space. With marketers increasingly shifting to social media-driven ad platforms like Meta’s Facebook and Instagram, and ByteDance’s TikTok, Google’s traditional ad model faces mounting pressure.
Technical Analysis
At the time of writing, NASDAQ:GOOG shares are down 6.75%, signaling a potential bearish continuation pattern. The stock appears poised to form a gap-down pattern, a bearish technical indicator that may lead to further downside pressure.
- Support Levels:* The first minor support lies at $197, aligning with the 78.6% Fibonacci retracement level. A breakdown below this level could result in gap-filling towards $185-$190.
- Major Structural Support: The BOS (Break of Structure) level is set at $155. A dip to this level could trigger further bearish sentiment and result in deeper losses.
- Moving Averages: Despite the premarket decline, NASDAQ:GOOG remains above key moving averages, suggesting that the broader trend remains bullish unless further downside momentum builds.
- RSI Positioning: Prior to this drop, the Relative Strength Index (RSI) was at 64, indicating that the stock was not overbought. This means the decline is not necessarily a reaction to overvaluation but rather a response to external market forces and investor sentiment.
Market Sentiment and Analyst Outlook
While some brokerage firms have cut their price targets on Alphabet, the median price target now stands at $220—still above its current premarket trading price of $191.20. Alphabet’s stock had gained 9% in 2024 before this drop, outperforming Amazon’s 10.3% gain and Microsoft’s -2.2% decline.
Conclusion
Despite the current dip, Alphabet’s long-term prospects in AI and cloud computing remain strong. The significant AI investment could prove to be a long-term advantage if it strengthens Alphabet’s competitive positioning. However, traders should closely monitor key support levels ($197 and $155) and whether the stock can hold above key moving averages.
For long-term investors, the recent drop could present a buying opportunity, but in the short term, further downside volatility is possible as market sentiment adjusts to Alphabet’s spending strategy. The coming days will be crucial in determining whether NASDAQ:GOOG can recover swiftly or continue its downward trajectory.
