The problem with being an American technology superstar is that it only takes a tiny earnings misstep and Wall Street will hammer your shares. And so it was on Monday evening when Alphabet, the owner of Google, disappointed its investment followers by reporting an increase in first-quarter revenues of a mere 17 per cent, against the market’s hopes of a 20 per cent rise.
That the revenues were $1 billion shy of analysts’ forecasts was enough to send Alphabet’s shares tumbling by 7.9 per cent, down $102.36 to $1,193.84 when US trading began yesterday. Such is the worth of this Nasdaq-listed giant that the fall was enough to erase an extraordinary $60.5 billion from its market value. Is it an over-reaction, or are things starting