Jul. 29 at 6:40 AM
$GOOGL delivered a strong Q2 on July 22, but the debate has shifted from growth to the cost of funding it. Google Cloud revenue rose 82% to
$24.8 billion and total revenue increased 24% to
$119.8 billion. At the same time, Alphabet lifted its 2026 capital-spending outlook to
$195–205 billion, while quarterly free cash flow turned negative.
AI demand is showing up in the numbers, but investors now need proof that infrastructure spending can produce durable returns without steadily weakening cash generation. Cloud margins, free cash flow and any further capex increases matter more from here than headline revenue alone.
$MSFT offers a useful comparison as it faces the same AI infrastructure trade-off.
Not financial advice. Do your own research.
