'Like rooting for Michael Jordan to play baseball': Here's how Wall Street is reacting to Alphabet's third-quarter earnings

• Alphabet stock fell as much as 10% on Wednesday after the company's third-quarter earnings report.
• The parent company of Google reported Cloud revenue that fell below analyst expectations.
• Here's how Wall Street analysts are reacting to Alphabet's third-quarter earnings report.

Alphabet stock fell as much as 10% on Wednesday after investors reacted to the company's third-quarter earnings results.

While revenue and profit beat analysts' estimates, driven in-part by strength in its Google and YouTube advertising business, its Cloud business grew revenue 22.5% to $8.41 billion, below Wall Street estimates of $8.62 billion and down from 28% growth in the second quarter.

The slowdown at Alphabet contrasts with Microsoft's quarterly report that showed a reacceleration in growth in its Azure cloud unit.

Here's how Wall Street analysts are reacting to Alphabet's third-quarter earnings.

Wedbush: 'Like rooting for Michael Jordan to play baseball'

Analyst Scott Devitt said the sharp decline in Alphabet's stock on Wednesday was driven by uncertainty in its Cloud revenue growth going forward, as well as lower expectations for the company's future margin expansion.

But the stock decline is "overdone and investors are placing too much relative value on the company's Cloud segment which accounts for just ~11% of revenue and ~1% of operating income, versus the core advertising business which accounts for 78% of revenue, is accelerating into Q4, and beat Q3 expectations by more than enough to offset slower Cloud growth," he said in a Wednesday note.

"Owning Alphabet for its Cloud business is like rooting for Michael Jordan to play baseball," Devitt added.

Wedbush rates Alphabet at "Outperform" with a $160 price target, representing potential upside of 26% from current levels.

Monness Crespi Hardt: 'Darkest days ' are ahead

Analyst Brian White warned investors that while Alphabet has a solid long-term outlook, "regulatory headwinds persist, competition is dynamic, and we believe the darkest days of this downturn are ahead of us."

He noted that the company's earnings call was "murky" during a time in which investors need clarity.

"The tone of the call was riddled with evasive commentary with no clear path forward during a period that increasingly demands major AI investments, combined with the risk of stronger competitors and a darkening macro environment," White said in a Wednesday note.

Monness Crespi Hardt cut its Alphabet rating to "Neutral" from "Buy."

Bank of America: 'Bad night to miss on Cloud'

Given that Microsoft reported strong results for its cloud business, Bank of America said it was a "bad night to miss on Cloud," but added that Alphabet's advertising business remains solid and the benefits for AI are still "early."

"While the cloud miss will raise concerns on AI positioning, Google suggested some stabilization in the quarter and Cloud represents just 2% of total profits. More important for 2024 EPS, strong Search and YouTube growth suggest the ad recovery remains strong, while product and advertiser initiatives suggest Alphabet will be an ongoing beneficiary of AI," analyst Justin Post said in a Wednesday note.

Bank of America rates Alphabet at "Buy" and raised its price target to $149 from $146, representing potential upside of 18% from current levels.