Google raises 2026 capital spending to $205 billion as AI costs surge

Alphabet's Q2 2026 earnings reveal a surge in AI-driven growth and spending. While total revenue rose 24% to $119.8B and profit quadrupled, the company raised its 2026 capital expenditure forecast to as much as $205B. This massive investment in AI infrastructure pushed free cash flow to negative $5.9B for the first time in a decade, causing its stock to fall and highlighting investor concern over spiraling costs.

Google Cloud revenue surge

• ▪Alphabet's backlog of contracted cloud computing work grew to $514 billion in Q2 2026, up from approximately $460 billion in the prior quarter.
• ▪Google Cloud's Q2 2026 revenue of $24.8 billion surpassed Wall Street analyst expectations of $22.46 billion.
• ▪Google Cloud revenue grew 82% year-over-year to $24.8 billion in the second quarter of 2026.

AI infrastructure spending

• ▪Alphabet's free cash flow was negative $5.9 billion in Q2 2026, the first time it has been negative in at least a decade.
• ▪The negative cash flow was attributed to growing capital expenditures related to AI, which totaled $45 billion in Q2 2026.
• ▪Following the earnings announcement, Alphabet's stock fell more than 4% in after-hours trading.

Gemini user growth

• ▪Google's AI chatbot, Gemini, reached 950 million monthly active users in Q2 2026.
• ▪Gemini's user base grew from 750 million monthly active users reported in Q4 2025.

Alphabet profit increase

• ▪Alphabet's profit for Q2 2026 quadrupled to $112.1 billion from $28.2 billion in the same period a year earlier.
• ▪Gains from investments in companies like SpaceX and Anthropic were valued at $99 billion and contributed $77 billion to Alphabet's overall profit.
• ▪Alphabet's total revenue for Q2 2026 reached $119.8 billion, up 24% from the previous year.

Capital expenditure plans

• ▪The new spending projection is more than double the $85 billion Alphabet spent in 2025.
• ▪Alphabet raised its projected capital expenditures for 2026 to a range of $195 billion to $205 billion.
• ▪CFO Anat Ashkenazi stated that Alphabet's capital expenditure is expected to increase "significantly" in 2027.
• ▪This forecast is an increase from a previous 2026 estimate of as much as $190 billion.

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