While many unprofitable growth tech stocks saw their share prices plummet in 2022, a result of investor sentiment souring on these speculative businesses, even the most dominant companies weren't immune to a declining market. For example, Alphabet (GOOGL -1.97%) (GOOG -1.96%), one of the most successful enterprises ever, experienced a stock drop of 39% last year. 

But even with a poor share-price performance in 2022, Alphabet looks like an incredibly attractive buying opportunity right now. Let's take a closer look. 

Facing macroeconomic headwinds 

Shareholders are probably familiar with the issues that the business has been facing, particularly as it relates to softer advertising spending. Rising interest rates implemented by the Federal Reserve have many executives preparing for a potential recession this year, and marketing expenses could be among the first cuts. This directly impacts Alphabet, as advertising accounted for 79% of overall revenue in the most recent quarter (the third quarter of 2022 ended Sept. 30).

The bright spot, however, is that this situation will prove to be temporary. Once the central bank accomplishes its goal of curbing inflation and again takes an accommodative stance, the economy will start expanding again. And this will be a boon for Alphabet. Furthermore, the business has more than $100 billion of net cash on its balance sheet, which means it will have no problem riding out a prolonged economic downturn. 

Focus on the bigger picture 

There's no doubt that Alphabet, like every other business, is dealing with the weaker macro environment. But investors shouldn't be so shortsighted and automatically turn down the stock. Instead, it's critical to take a step back and focus your attention on the bigger picture. According to data provided by Statista, Alphabet commands a 28% share of the global digital advertising market that is expected to eclipse $1 trillion by 2027. 

What's more, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), the company's cloud-computing segment, increased sales by 38% last quarter on a year-over-year basis. To be fair, GCP trails both Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure, but this market will be big enough for multiple winners. To give credibility to GCP's success thus far, its customers include well-known companies like Home Depot, PayPal, and Procter & Gamble. 

A discussion about Alphabet isn't complete without mentioning YouTube, which generated over $7 billion in ad revenue in the third quarter, putting it in the ballpark with the leader in streaming entertainment, Netflix, when it comes to sales. YouTube is particularly attractive because it benefits from network effects. As more user-generated content is created and added, the service improves by being able to offer videos for a wider range of viewers. And as more viewers come to YouTube, content creators flock to the platform because of its growing audience. YouTube counts a whopping 2.6 billion monthly active users. 

It's evident that Alphabet has plenty of levers to pull in order to drive sustained growth. 

A compelling opportunity for investors 

After the stock dropped 39% in 2022, and it has been relatively flat so far in 2023 (as of this writing), Alphabet shares are currently trading at a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 17. This is substantially cheaper than the trailing-10-year P/E of 29, demonstrating how negative investor sentiment has become. 

Investors might be concerned that Alphabet's market cap of $1.1 trillion means that there isn't much in the way of future return potential. I have also thought about this same issue. But I think it's flawed thinking to simply assume that a stock can't produce wonderful returns just because the company is already massive. 

Unlike the leading companies of old that operated in the physical world and required tons of capital to grow, this is an internet-based, capital-light business that generates tons of free cash flow. And because it operates in huge end markets, I think Alphabet's expansion runway is far from coming to an end. 

Therefore, it's one of the best investment opportunities out there, in my opinion, tech-focused or not, that one can make in 2023.