Alphabet, the parent company of Google, is preparing to reveal its fourth-quarter earnings report on February 2nd. Investors are cautiously hoping that the tech behemoth will have a strong report to show in light of the tumultuous time the past year has been. As the tech industry evolves and competition increases, Alphabet is pinning its hopes on its AI technology to stay ahead of the curve.

Cloud computing is one area of strength for Alphabet, as its Google Cloud service continues to be a dependable growth driver. Our consensus estimate for Google Cloud revenue stands at $7.3 billion, with year-over-year growth expected to be over 32%. The performance of rival Microsoft's Intelligent Cloud was also encouraging, with revenue exceeding expectations and growing 18% year-over-year. Alphabet hopes to perform similarly.

Unfortunately, Google's advertising business has been struggling. Digital advertising as a whole has been