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Shares of Google-parent company Alphabet plunged more than 5%—adding to severe losses so far this month—after the company reported lackluster first-quarter earnings on Tuesday which showed a slowdown in revenue growth while also announcing a $70 billion stock buyback.
The earnings miss dragged Alphabet shares lower, with the stock down nearly 20% this month alone.
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Alphabet reported first-quarter revenue ($68 billion) and profits that came in slightly below expectations, causing shares of the company to fall roughly 5% in after-hours trading.
While overall revenue was up from roughly $55 billion last year, it grew at a much slower pace, up 23% from last year, when revenue had grown 34% from 2020.
Alphabet saw a boost in its core search advertising business as businesses spent more on marketing coming out of the pandemic, but the company is now contending with slowing revenue growth.
While Google Cloud revenue was a bright spot—coming in slightly above expectations at $5.8 billion, advertising revenue from YouTube took a hit during the quarter, well below expectations at roughly $6.9 billion compared to $7.5 billion expected.
Alphabet’s board of directors, meanwhile, also authorized a $70 billion in stock buybacks, a major increase from the $50 billion authorized last year.
Shares of Alphabet had fallen nearly 4% on Tuesday ahead of its earnings report, as Big Tech stocks led the declines in yet another bad day for markets, with the Dow plunging 800 points.