Meta, Google Investors Look Past Earnings to Risks Ahead (1)

The digital ad market is finally recovering from a painful slump. You wouldn’t know it looking at the shares of Meta Platforms Inc., Snap Inc. and Alphabet Inc.

All three reported generally upbeat results this week, with ad spending growing compared with a year ago. That should’ve been a welcome sign for investors who’ve seen the industry struggle through more than two years in turmoil. The companies have had to cope with a post-pandemic pullback in online marketing spending, an ever-changing list of economic uncertainties and a change to Apple Inc.’s privacy policies that made smartphone ads less ...