Alphabet shares dropped about 7% in extended trading on Tuesday after the company reported weaker-than-expected earnings and revenue for the third quarter and said it would significantly decrease headcount growth.Earnings per share (EPS): $1.06 vs. $1.25 expected, according to Refinitiv estimates.Revenue: $69.09 billion vs. $70.58 billion expected, according to Refinitiv estimates.YouTube advertising revenue: $7.07 billion vs $7.42 billion expected, according to StreetAccount estimates.Google Cloud revenue: $6.9 billion vs $6.69 billion expected, according to StreetAccount estimatesTraffic acquisition costs (TAC): $11.83 vs $12.38 expected, according to StreetAccount estimatesRevenue growth slowed to 6% from 41% a year earlier as the company contends with a continued downdraft in online ad spending. Other than one period early in the pandemic, it’s the weakest period for growth since 2013.YouTube ad revenue slid about 2% to $7.07 billion from $7.21 billion a year ago. Analysts were expecting an increase of about 3%. Alphabet reported overall advertising revenue of $54.48 billion during the quarter, up slightly from the prior year.Philipp Schindler, chief business officer for Google, said the company saw a pullback in spend on search ads from certain areas such as insurance, loans, mortgage and cryptocurrencies.The report marks an ominous start to Big Tech earnings week for investors focused on the digital ad market. Last week, Snap issued disappointing results and said it was unable to provide a forecast given the volatility in spending and concerns about the economy. Snap plummeted 28% on Friday following the numbers. Meta is scheduled to report results on Wednesday, and analysts are expecting a seco …
