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Google Filing Reveals It Slashed Spending on Acquisitions in 2023

As interest rates and antitrust pressure climbed in 2023, Alphabet made no major acquisitions for the first time in years. Apple, Amazon, and Meta also curbed dealmaking.

Alphabet omitted a section describing acquisitions over the past year in the annual report filed this week to the US Securities and Exchange Commision, meaning any dealmaking wasn’t significant enough to flag to shareholders. The slowdown suggests pressure from antitrust regulators concerned about corporate power and investors who demanded cost cuts as interest rates jumped is forcing tech giants to pull back from one of their signature strategies. “Deals from mega cap companies are being much more scrutinized,” says Angelo Zino, who studies tech stocks as vice president and senior equity analyst at CFRA Research.

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