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The logo of Google is seen at the high profile startups and high tech leaders gathering, Viva Tech,in Paris, France May 16, 2019.

Charles Platiau | Reuters

Shares of Alphabet dipped as much as 8% Wednesday morning, a day after the company released third-quarter earnings that missed on the top and bottom lines.

Alphabet reported its weakest period for growth since 2013 except for one other period early in the pandemic. Revenue growth slowed to 6% from 41% a year earlier as the company contends with a continued downdraft in online ad spending.

The company reported overall advertising revenue of $54.48 billion during the quarter, up slightly from the prior year. Analysts were expecting an increase of about 3% in YouTube ad revenue, but it slid about 2% to $7.07 billion from $7.21 billion a year ago.

Analysts at Bernstein maintained their outperform rating on Alphabet stock but said as Google’s ad revenues decelerate, the company has become “increasingly uncomfortable” over the last six months.

“Google is an ad business first, and digital ads is no longer a safe place to hide,” they said Wednesday.

Raymond James analysts also maintained their outperform rating, citing expectations for long-term ad revenue growth and Google Cloud momentum. The analysts noted Alphabet’s plans to slow headcount additions, so they “are optimistic that margins can improve by later 2023.”

Alphabet’s report marks an ominous start to Big Tech earnings week for investors focused on the digital ad market, and analysts at Needham said it is likely bad news for Meta.

“GOOGL talked about more hardware spending going forward. GOOGL and META are both spending more capX and op Ex on hardware, which implies lower [Return on Invsted Capital] than in the past when GOOGL was predominantly a software and advertising biz,” they wrote in a Wednesday note.

Meta is scheduled to report earnings after the bell Wednesday.

— CNBC’s Jennifer Elias and Michael Bloom contributed to this report.

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Nvidia down 30% from high as tech-led sell-off hits ‘Magnificent Seven’

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Nvidia down 30% from high as tech-led sell-off hits 'Magnificent Seven'

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang gives a keynote address at CES 2025, an annual consumer electronics trade show, in Las Vegas on Jan. 6, 2025.

Steve Marcus | Reuters

Nvidia has lost nearly a third of its value just two months after notching a fresh high.

The leading chipmaker slumped about 5% on Monday, building on last week’s losses as heavy selling continued across the tech sector. The popular artificial intelligence stock has shed about a fifth of its market cap since President Donald Trump’s inauguration.

The stock hit an intraday high of $153.13 on Jan. 7.

Tariff fears and growth concerns have rocked technology stocks, including Nvidia, over the past week, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite dropping more than 4%. The Nasdaq traded at a six-month low on Monday.

Many technology companies rely on parts and manufacturing overseas and new levies could push up prices. That has also sparked worries of a U.S. recession, which Trump did not rule out over the weekend.

Tesla led the declines among the “Magnificent Seven” names, plummeting more than 13%. The Elon Musk-backed electric vehicle company has plunged 16% over the past week and shed nearly 44% since Trump took office in January. The stock is also coming off its longest weekly losing streak in history as a public company.

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Elon Musk’s X suffers multiple outages

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Elon Musk’s X suffers multiple outages

Dado Ruvic | Reuters

Elon Musk’s social media platform X experienced several outages on Monday morning, leaving some users unable to load the site.

Nearly 40,000 users reported problems with the platform around 10 a.m. ET,  according to the analytics platform Downdetector, which gathers data from users who spot glitches and report them to the service. Around 28,000 people were experiencing issues as of 11:30 a.m. ET.

When X resumed loading for users Monday afternoon, Musk said the company had suffered a “massive cyberattack.” Musk did not provide any evidence, and CNBC could not independently verify that a cyberattack took place.

“We get attacked every day, but this was done with a lot of resources,” Musk wrote in a post. “Either a large, coordinated group and/or a country is involved.”

X did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.

Musk acquired X, formerly known as Twitter, for $44 billion in 2022. The Tesla CEO slashed the company’s headcount by about 80% from 7,500 employees to 1,300 workers, and just 550 full-time engineers, by January 2023.

X has experienced several large-scale outages since Musk’s takeover. Users reported problems with the platform in December 2022 and with the site’s desktop app in July 2023, for instance.

The timing of the X outage couldn’t have been worse for NFL fans, who rely on the service for news updates. The first day of the NFL’s free agency tampering window began at 12 p.m. ET with the service down, sending fans searching for other options such as linear TV and Bluesky to get their news on player signings.

— CNBC’s Alex Sherman contributed reporting.

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Watch: Elon Musk on X subscriptions: ‘Free speech isn’t exactly free it costs a little bit’

Elon Musk on X subscriptions: 'Free speech isn't exactly free it costs a little bit'

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Bitcoin falls to November low under $80,000 on heightened recession fears

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Bitcoin falls to November low under ,000 on heightened recession fears

CFOTO | Future Publishing | Getty Images

Bitcoin dropped under the $80,000 level Monday, dragged by the continued selling pressure in the equities market.

The price of the flagship cryptocurrency was last lower by 5% at $78,714.96, its lowest level since November, according to Coin Metrics.

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Bitcoin in the past day

Shares of companies linked to the crypto space also slid. Coinbase fell roughly 14%. Robinhood lost 17%, and bitcoin proxy play Strategy, formerly known as MicroStrategy, declined 16%.

Bitcoin ETFs are coming off their fourth week in a row of outflows. They logged $867 million of outflows last week, bringing the four-week total to $4.75 billion, according to CoinShares. Continued bearishness pushed crypto prices even lower over the weekend, with bitcoin dropping sharply on Sunday evening to the $80,000 level for the first time since Feb. 28.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order to establish a U.S. bitcoin reserve and a digital asset stockpile late last week, disappointing some investors. However, macro uncertainty was the key driver of the accelerated downward move Monday, after Trump over the weekend didn’t rule out the possibility of a recession in the U.S.

Absent a crypto-specific catalyst, macro concerns are likely to continue weighing on cryptocurrency prices in the near term. This week, the market will be watching for key economic indicators, including the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) Tuesday, the consumer price index on Wednesday and the producer price index slated for Thursday.

Although investors expect cryptocurrency prices are likely to pull back even more before making a run for a new record, their positive outlook on the year driven by regulatory tailwinds is still intact.

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