Google (GOOG) Q2 2026 earnings report: Dwell updates

Buyers will likely be taking note of Alphabet’s funding revenue after a current Anthropic funding spherical pushed up the worth of Google’s holding within the mannequin developer.

In 2023, Google first purchased a ten% stake in Anthropic. The search firm introduced plans to take a position as much as $40 billion extra in April, having invested greater than $3 billion within the startup already. By Could, with Anthropic’s Claude Code gaining consideration for its potential to shortly write software code, the corporate stated buyers had valued it at $965 billion. That was up from $380 billion as of February.

Alphabet can also be sitting on a stake in SpaceX, which went public in June, after first investing $900 million within the rocket maker in 2015. SpaceX shares have drifted down about 8% for the reason that record-setting preliminary public providing.

Three months in the past, Google touted a $37 billion achieve on fairness securities.

—Jordan Novet

Google is attempting to maintain up with OpenAI and Anthropic with its cutting-edge Gemini AI fashions, whereas additionally providing fashions at costs that acknowledge a extra frugal method to AI spending.

On Tuesday, the corporate launched three new Gemini fashions, together with its clearest reply but to Anthropic’s lead in cybersecurity. Gemini 3.5 Flash Cyber is designed to detect and patch software program vulnerabilities and can initially be out there solely to governments and trusted companions by way of a limited-access pilot. Google stated the specialised mannequin runs at a cheaper price per token than bigger fashions.

With Gemini 3.6 Flash, Google goals to bolster its coding assistant expertise whereas utilizing as much as 17% fewer tokens and providing a cheaper price per token than the earlier mannequin.

The pricing conflict in AI is heating up as demand soars for open-source fashions, largely out of China. The most well liked current instance is Moonshot AI’s Kimi K3.

— MacKenzie Sigalos

Google’s inventory is on tempo for a 3rd straight month as the corporate heads into the second-quarter print on mounting AI skepticism.

Shares are up 11% for the yr however have dropped 1% in Could, 6% in June and are pacing for an almost 3% loss in July.

That places the corporate behind Apple and Nvidia for the yr.

Google’s inventory drop comes as skepticism swirls over skyrocketing synthetic intelligence spending and companies pour billions into the infrastructure buildout.

— Samantha Subin

Buyers should not count on Alphabet’s epic spending spree to vary course subsequent yr.

Finance chief Anat Ashkenazi stated in April that 2027 capex is prone to “considerably enhance” from the as much as $190 billion deliberate for this yr.

Evercore analysts wrote in a notice over the weekend that “when the CFO warns about following yr capex within the March Quarter, the plans are going to be aggressive.” The Evercore analysts then — jokingly — requested if the quantity might hit “$300B? $350B?!”

Finally, they settled on an estimate of $262 billion, and famous that they are involved “that capex spend might ramp increased than this.” The consensus estimate for Alphabet’s 2027 capex is about $257 billion, based on FactSet.

— Jonathan Vanian

Analysts count on YouTube’s promoting income progress to ease up because the video engine reaches larger scale.

The unit ought to contribute $10.81 billion in income, which might indicate roughly 10% progress from a yr earlier, decelerating from 11% growth within the first quarter.

In Could, on the I/O developer convention, Google stated YouTube had reached 3 billion customers, alongside the corporate’s search engine, Gmail, Chrome and Android. The milestone makes the positioning an more and more compelling vacation spot for advertisers.

Meta had 3.56 billion “day by day energetic folks” throughout its apps within the first quarter.

Evercore ISI analysts got here away with a positive evaluation of YouTube’s stature following a June survey. In a notice to shoppers on Sunday, they pointed to comparatively engaging promoting prices and “linear TV leakage.”

—Jordan Novet

Google is trailing Amazon and Microsoft in cloud computing, but it surely’s been rising sooner.

Second-quarter income in Alphabet’s Google Cloud unit, which incorporates infrastructure and Google Workspace productiveness subscriptions, is anticipated to point out 64% progress from a yr earlier to $22.24 billion, based on StreetAccount.

That is an acceleration from 63% growth within the first quarter, which topped market chief Amazon Net Companies’ 28% progress. At Microsoft, income from Azure and different cloud companies elevated 40%.

Giant corporations are working extra apps on Google’s cloud, incorporating the corporate’s AI fashions, CEO Sundar Pichai stated on the final earnings name in April. Moreover, the Gemini Enterprise assistant for company staff, which begins at $21 per individual monthly, is gaining traction, he stated.

Demand for Google’s tensor processing models, or TPUs, can also be ramping at AI labs. In April, Google touted a cloud TPU for coaching AI fashions and one which handles inference jobs.

The $29.5 billion acquisition earlier this yr of cloud safety firm Wiz can also be boosting cloud progress. Google is seeing a lot demand that it inked a deal in June with Elon Musk’s SpaceX, agreeing to pay $920 million a month for AI compute capability.

— Jordan Novet

Alphabet and its hyperscaler friends are spending boatloads of cash on large knowledge heart and associated computing tasks, and buyers are paying shut consideration.

That places a specific give attention to Alphabet’s capital expenditures, or capex, which has been skyrocketing in current quarters. In April, the corporate raised its 2026 capex steerage to between $180 billion and $190 billion, up from $175 billion to $185 billion.

The consensus estimate for Alphabet’s 2026 capex is $187.1 billion, based on FactSet. Among the many internet giants, Amazon is the one one anticipated to spend extra, with analysts projecting capex of $200 billion, consistent with the corporate’s forecast.

— Jonathan Vanian