Alphabet shares fall 12.64% as market value shrinks by almost $500 billion
Alphabet has suffered its worst day since the company listed on the stock exchange. By the close of trading on Thursday the shares had fallen 12.64%, and the company's market value shrank by almost $500 billion to $3.47 trillion.
The drop is the largest single-day loss of market capitalisation by any company apart from chipmaker Nvidia, which lost close to $600 billion earlier this year.
The sell-off came despite stronger US economic growth data that might ordinarily have drawn buyers. Instead, every major US index closed lower, with the disappointing Alphabet quarter setting the tone for the session.
Pressure continued after the bell. Shares in Intel and Amazon fell sharply in after-hours trading following results that came in weaker than expected, suggesting the mood that hit Alphabet is spreading across the technology sector.
The scale of the move underlines how much of the US market's value now rests on a handful of large technology companies, where a single earnings miss can erase hundreds of billions of dollars in a day.
