搜索巨头承认，其“人工智能模式”正在冲击传统搜索业务；营收和利润均低于市场预期。谷歌大幅增加人工智能支出，第三季度相关资本开支超过500亿美元，导致现金流出规模创下纪录。与此同时，核心搜索广告业务表现疲软，引发投资者担忧，谷歌股价随之大幅下跌。
谷歌母公司Alphabet周三公布的财报显示，截至9月底的三个月内，公司自由现金流进一步转负，降至负91亿美元，而第二季度为负59亿美元。
谷歌的现金消耗规模远超华尔街预期。这也是公司2004年上市以来，自由现金流出现负值的第二个季度。
盘后交易中，谷歌股价跌幅超过10%。与此同时，公司承认，其类似聊天机器人的“人工智能模式”（AI Mode）正在损害传统搜索业务。
如果股价跌势持续，Alphabet的市值将蒸发超过4000亿美元，这将创下公司历史上最大的单日市值损失纪录。
谷歌现金流转负的原因，是公司为人工智能投入了创纪录的资本开支，押注这项新兴技术具有改变产业格局的巨大潜力。
第三季度资本开支增至513亿美元，高于第二季度的449亿美元。首席财务官阿纳特·阿什肯纳齐（Anat Ashkenazi）重申，公司今年资本开支最高将达到2050亿美元。这意味着，第四季度资本开支可能高达731亿美元。
谷歌披露，公司已承诺未来在数据中心采购、租赁、设备、能源及其他义务方面支出超过1万亿美元。
为了支撑这轮大规模支出，Alphabet已举借数百亿美元债务，并于6月宣布计划融资约850亿美元。这将是公司二十多年来首次通过发行股票筹集资金，标志着其此前多年持续回购自家股票的策略出现重大转变。
相比之下，微软周三获得了市场更积极的反应。受Azure云业务强劲增长推动，微软营收和利润均超出预期，股价上涨4%。尽管其资本开支增至452亿美元，但公司仍实现186亿美元的自由现金流。
资产管理公司SLC Management董事总经理德克·马拉基（Dec Mullarkey）表示：“市场正在仔细权衡资本开支与自由现金流之间的关系。微软在保持增长的同时，展现出了突出的现金流管理能力。谷歌则未能达到预期，而且现金流预计将持续拖累公司表现，直至明年。”
核心搜索广告业务增长放缓，引发担忧
分析师还指出，谷歌核心搜索广告业务表现疲软，是另一个值得担忧的问题。
谷歌最大业务部门的营收同比增长12%，达到634亿美元，但低于分析师预期的649亿美元。此前，该业务今年早些时候的年度营收增速接近20%。
谷歌首席商务官菲利普·辛德勒（Philipp Schindler）承认，“人工智能模式”中的查询正在蚕食传统搜索业务的流量，并导致广告变现能力下降。
与传统搜索展示链接列表不同，人工智能模式会直接提供对话式文本答案。
Aptus Capital Advisors股票投资主管戴维·瓦格纳（David Wagner）表示：“市场真正担忧的是搜索业务。在投资者担心人工智能聊天机器人会侵蚀谷歌核心业务的情况下，他们需要看到搜索业务加速增长，而不是增长放缓。”
Alphabet第三季度集团营收同比增长25%，达到1276亿美元，但仍略低于FactSet汇总的分析师平均预期。
公司净利润同比下降25%，至262亿美元，远低于分析师预期的373亿美元。
净利润下滑受到谷歌投资资产估值变动的影响，其投资组合包括SpaceX的股权。埃隆·马斯克旗下的火箭制造商SpaceX在报告期内估值下跌约4%，导致谷歌录得87亿美元的股权投资净亏损。
不包括投资亏损的营业利润同比增长30%，达到406亿美元，但仍低于华尔街预期的432亿美元。
阿什肯纳齐指出，公司支付的52亿美元现金用于和解一项源于2018年的欧洲监管罚款，这也加剧了自由现金流的负值。
谷歌近期刚刚在一项诉讼中败诉。该诉讼涉及其通过Android操作系统实施反竞争行为，公司对相关裁决提出的上诉未获支持。
云业务强劲增长，人工智能战略仍面临考验
抵消搜索业务疲软的部分利好来自谷歌云业务。受客户对谷歌自身人工智能服务的需求激增，以及向Anthropic等竞争对手出售计算能力的推动，谷歌云第三季度营收翻倍至307亿美元。
谷歌一直将其“全栈式”人工智能战略视为重要竞争优势。公司自主开发芯片、建设数据中心、训练前沿模型，再通过已有的应用程序和服务，将这些技术提供给数十亿忠实用户。
不过，首席执行官桑达尔·皮查伊（Sundar Pichai）一直受到批评，批评者认为他在部署人工智能方面行动迟缓，导致谷歌这样规模庞大的公司在利润丰厚的企业级市场落后于Anthropic和OpenAI等初创企业。
皮查伊表示，谷歌最先进的Gemini模型推出的两个新版本——Argon和Carbon——已经在编程、金融和网络安全领域缩小了与竞争对手的差距，有望帮助Alphabet重新夺回市场份额。
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The search giant acknowledged that its “artificial intelligence model” was impacting on traditional search operations; both revenues and profits were below market expectations. Google has significantly increased artificial intelligence spending, with related capital expenditures exceeding $50 billion in the third quarter, leading to a record level of cash outflows. At the same time, the weak performance of the core search advertising business triggered concerns among investors and led to a sharp fall in Google stock prices.
According to the press release on Wednesday by the Google parent company Alphabet, the company ' s free cash flow had declined further to negative $9.1 billion in the three months ending September, compared to negative $5.9 billion in the second quarter.
Google’s cash consumption is much larger than Wall Street expected. This is also the second quarter in which free cash flows have been negative since the company was listed in 2004.
The value of Google stock fell by more than 10 per cent in the back-up deal. At the same time, the company acknowledges that its “AI Mode” of Artificial Intelligence (AI Mode) like a chat robot is undermining traditional search operations.
If stock prices continue to decline, the market value of Alphabet will evaporate over $400 billion, which will result in the largest single-day market value loss record in the company ' s history.
Google ' s negative cash flow is due to the fact that companies have invested record-setting capital expenditures for artificial intelligence, and bet that this emerging technology has great potential to change industrial patterns.
Capital expenditure increased to $51.3 billion in the third quarter, up from $44.9 billion in the second quarter. The Chief Finance Officer, Anat Ashkenazi, reiterated that the company ' s capital expenditure would be up to $205 billion this year. This means that capital expenditure could reach $73.1 billion in the fourth quarter.
Google disclosed that the company had committed to spending more than $1 trillion in future on data centre procurement, leasing, equipment, energy and other obligations.
To support this massive round of expenditures, Alphabet has borrowed tens of billions of dollars in debt and announced in June that it will finance approximately $85 billion. This will be the first time in more than 20 years that a company has raised funds through the issuance of shares, marking a significant shift in its strategy to buy back its own stocks over the years that preceded it.
By contrast, Microsoft has a more positive market response on Wednesday. Driven by strong growth in the Azure cloud business, Microsoft earned and earned more than expected, with equity prices rising by 4 per cent. Although its capital expenditure increased to $45.2 billion, the company achieved a free cash flow of $18.6 billion.
“The market is carefully weighing the relationship between capital expenditure and free cash flows. While maintaining growth, Microsoft has demonstrated remarkable cash-flow management capacity. Google failed to meet expectations and cash flows are expected to continue to slow company performance until next year.”
The growth in core search advertising has slowed, causing concern
The analyst also noted that the weak performance of Google Core Search Advertising was another concern.
The largest business unit in Google grew by 12 per cent over the same year, to $63.4 billion, but less than the analyst expected $64.9 billion. Earlier this year, the operation experienced an annual increase of nearly 20 per cent.
The Chief Commercial Officer of Google, Philipp Schindler, acknowledged that queries in the “Agent Intelligence Model” were eroding the flow of traditional search operations and leading to a reduction in advertising liquidity.
Unlike the traditional search display link list, artificial intelligence models provide direct text answers to the dialogue.
David Wagner, stock manager of Aptus Capital Advisors, said: “The real concern of the market is the search operation. When investors fear that artificial smart chat robots will erode Google core business, they need to see the search business accelerate growth rather than slow growth.”
Alphabet ' s third quarter group collection increased by 25 per cent over the same year, to $1276.6 billion, but remained slightly below the average expectation of the analyst in FactSet.
Net corporate profits declined by 25 per cent, to $26.2 billion, over the same period, well below the $37.3 billion expected by analysts.
The decline in net profits was affected by changes in the valuation of Google investment assets, including SpaceX ' s equity portfolio. SpaceX, a rocket manufacturer under the flag of Elon Mask, fell by about 4 per cent during the reporting period, resulting in a net loss on Google's $8.7 billion equity investment.
Business profits, excluding investment losses, increased by 30 per cent from year to year to $40.6 billion, but remain below the projected $43.2 billion on Wall Street.
Ashkenazi stated that the $5.2 billion in cash paid by the company was used to reconcile a European regulatory fine originating in 2018, which also exacerbated the negative value of free cash flows.
Google recently lost a lawsuit. The action involved anticompetitive conduct through the Android operating system and the company ' s appeal against the decision was not upheld.
Cloud operations are growing strongly and artificial intelligence strategies are still being tested
Part of the benefit of the weak search operations is from Google Clouds. Driven by the surge in client demand for Google's own artificial intelligence services and the sale of computing capabilities to competitors such as Anthropic, the third quarter of Google Clouds doubled to $30.7 billion.
Google has always regarded its “all-brand” artificial intelligence strategy as an important competitive advantage. The company has developed chips, built data centres, trained front-line models and, through existing applications and services, delivered these technologies to billions of faithful users.
However, Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai has been criticized for his slow deployment of artificial intelligence, which has led a large company like Google to lag behind start-ups such as Anthropic and Openai in lucrative corporate markets.
Pichai states that two new versions of the most advanced Gemini model — Argon and Carbon — have narrowed the gap with competitors in the areas of programming, finance and cybersecurity and are expected to help Alphabet regain market share.
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