Alphabet's Q3 revenue rose 25% to $127.6 billion, but EPS fell 26% to $2.12 from $2.87, both missing consensus estimates of $128.2 billion and $3.02. Free cash flow turned negative at about $9.1 billion as capital expenditures rose to $51.4 billion from $44.9 billion in Q2, largely for AI infrastructure. Search advertising grew 12% to $63.5 billion, below the $64.9 billion expected and slowing from nearly 17% in Q2, while Google Cloud revenue soared more than 100% to $30.7 billion with operating income of $11.1 billion. The author argues the picture needs context: net income included an $8.2 billion unrealized loss on Alphabet's SpaceX stake, operating income rose 30% to $40.6 billion, and cloud backlog grew to $567.7 billion from $519.5 billion at mid-year, mostly AI-related. The author says capex is in line with the $195–205 billion full-year budget and that the results were, on balance, more good than bad.
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GOOGLearningscloud computingAI investment
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GOOGL
▼ Likely negativeAlphabet Inc. (Class A)
Relevance: medium
| Market | US stocks |
|---|---|
| Sector | Communication Services |
| Industry | Interactive Media & Services |
| Market cap | $3.5T |
| Close on 10/30/2026 | 279.76 |
| Change that session | -1.43% |
Impact is scored by AI from the headline and may be wrong. It is not investment advice.
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