Why Alphabet Stock Is Down Ahead of Oct. 28 Earnings

Alphabet (GOOGL, GOOG) is trading lower into its third-quarter report, which news summaries place on October 28, but no single event explains it. Several smaller pressures overlap: an hours-long Google Cloud outage in the UK, a price-target cut from KeyCorp, a securities class action over the Gemini 3.5 Pro timeline, and ongoing worry about AI spending. The decline we could verify is 1.1% on October 20, from $344.18 to $340.28 (some sources show $340.74). We could not verify an October 21 intraday move or a current price, so none is quoted. Confirm the report date on Alphabet Investor Relations.

What is weighing on the stock

The Google Cloud outage

On Tuesday, October 20, Google Cloud services in the UK went down for hours. Reuters reported that Revolut saw card payments and ATM withdrawals disrupted, and that Downdetector showed reports for Lloyds and HSBC; other outlets also named NatWest, Halifax and Bank of Scotland. Google attributed the problem to a "power event" in its europe-west2 region and said full service was restored. The UK Financial Conduct Authority said it was aware of the incident and engaging with Google and affected firms. The Bank of England is reported to be investigating, though it declined to comment publicly. The Treasury Committee chair also wrote to regulators asking about compensation for customers. Reports note that Google Cloud was designated a critical third party under the UK regime in July, which gives regulators more oversight powers. Downdetector counts are aggregated, so actual customer impact may differ. We have seen no estimate of financial cost to Alphabet.

KeyCorp trims its target, but stays positive

KeyCorp lowered its Alphabet price target to $410 from $435, a cut of about 5.7% by our calculation, and kept its Overweight rating. At the October 20 close of about $340.28, the new target implies roughly 20% upside, by our calculation. The cut is a lower valuation estimate, not a change in view. Other published targets we found range from $425 (RBC) and $445 (Wedbush) to $465–$480 (BMO) and $475 (Pivotal). Consensus is Buy with an average target of about $426, per aggregated data we have not independently confirmed.

Gemini 3.5 Pro class action

A plaintiffs' law firm notice describes a securities class action, Stewart v. Alphabet, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Investors who want to serve as lead plaintiff have until December 1. The suit alleges Alphabet made misleading statements about the timeline for Gemini 3.5 Pro. These are allegations from the plaintiffs, not findings, and Alphabet has not been found liable. The notice ties the claim to a 4.4% share decline on July 16, from $370.92 to $354.46. The pasted summary we started from did not mention this case.

AI spending and the Oct. 28 report

A September 23 report said Alphabet raised its 2026 capital spending plan to $195 billion–$205 billion. Investors are likely to ask how fast that spending turns into cloud and AI revenue, and what it does to free cash flow. That framing, and the wider "tech and credit jitters" cited in some market commentary, is general sentiment we could not tie to a specific primary source. For context, second-quarter revenue was $119.80 billion against $117.07 billion expected. One technical analysis firm puts support near $331.79 and resistance near $345.62; treat those levels as one opinion, not a forecast.

Sources: Alphabet Investor Relations for earnings dates and results; Reuters, the Bank of England and FCA reports as carried by news outlets, KeyCorp's target as reported by market-data sites, the class-action notice from a plaintiffs' law firm, and a September capex report. We did not verify an October 21 price. This is informational, not a recommendation to buy or sell.