Alphabet shares fall over 10% after Q3 revenue misses; Cloud grows 103%

The tension here is that the fastest-growing part of the business, Cloud, is also the part most tied to heavy capital spending, and the negative free cash flow alongside a signal of significantly higher 2027 capex suggests the market is repricing the cost of that growth rather than questioning the growth itself. Advertising's shortfall matters because it funds the buildout. The open question is whether Cloud's trajectory keeps justifying the spending while the core ad engine softens, and how much further capex guidance moves before investors treat it as a margin story rather than a demand story.