by Luzi Ann Santos
Google parent $Alphabet-A (GOOGL.US)$ saw its shares tumble 5.9% Wednesday morning as the tech giant reported fourth quarter ad revenue that missed analysts' estimates.
After the market closed on Tuesday, the company released fourth quarter results that showed ad revenue reached $65.52 billion, lower than the $65.80 billion average estimate from analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Total revenue was $86.31 billion, above the $85.36 billion expected by analysts.
Earnings rose to $1.64 a share in the fourth quarter from $1.05 a year earlier, the company said in a press release. That's better than the $1.59 that analysts were expecting.
The company said it posted a $2.1 billion employee severance and related charges in the year ended Dec. 31, as it slashed its workforce. The tech giant also had exit charges of $1.2 billion in the fourth quarter and $1.8 billion in the 12-month period as it sought to optimize its global office space.
