Alphabet Inc. once again raised its 2026 capital expenditure forecast, which is already high, and told investors that as the company steps up construction of the computing power necessary to support its artificial intelligence ambitions, the expenditure could exceed $200 billion. The parent company of Google predicts that capital expenditure in 2026 will be between 1950 billion and 205 billion US dollars, higher than the previous high of 190 billion US dollars, and higher than the average analysts' expectations of about 186 billion US dollars. The revised guidelines reflect that the company is speeding up the expansion of AI computing power and seeking more revenue from cloud computing customers. This outlook is likely to further intensify investors' scrutiny of Alphabet's AI investments. Wall Street is always looking for evidence that the company's massive investment in AI is bringing new growth rather than dragging down profits. As the first major US technology company to announce results in this financial reporting season, Alphabet's performance will affect the market's expectations for the entire technology industry, which has promised to invest hundreds of billions of dollars in AI infrastructure. Alphabet shares fell 4% after the market on Wednesday. The shares closed at $342.09 per share in New York on Wednesday. Capital expenditure guidance overshadowed the company's otherwise solid second-quarter results. Cloud business revenue for the quarter ended June 30 was US$24.77 billion, up 82% year over year and higher than analysts' expectations of US$22.46 billion. The backlog of orders for the cloud business increased to $514 billion. CEO Sundar Pichai said in a conference call with analysts late Wednesday that cloud business performance “benefits from strong demand for AI infrastructure and AI solutions.”

Alphabet Inc. once again raised its 2026 capital expenditure forecast, which is already high, and told investors that as the company steps up construction of the computing power necessary to support its artificial intelligence ambitions, the expenditure could exceed $200 billion. The parent company of Google predicts that capital expenditure in 2026 will be between 1950 billion and 205 billion US dollars, higher than the previous high of 190 billion US dollars, and higher than the average analysts' expectations of about 186 billion US dollars. The revised guidelines reflect that the company is speeding up the expansion of AI computing power and seeking more revenue from cloud computing customers. This outlook is likely to further intensify investors' scrutiny of Alphabet's AI investments. Wall Street is always looking for evidence that the company's massive investment in AI is bringing new growth rather than dragging down profits. As the first major US technology company to announce results in this financial reporting season, Alphabet's performance will affect the market's expectations for the entire technology industry, which has promised to invest hundreds of billions of dollars in AI infrastructure. Alphabet shares fell 4% after the market on Wednesday. The shares closed at $342.09 per share in New York on Wednesday. Capital expenditure guidance overshadowed the company's otherwise solid second-quarter results. Cloud business revenue for the quarter ended June 30 was US$24.77 billion, up 82% year over year and higher than analysts' expectations of US$22.46 billion. The backlog of orders for the cloud business increased to $514 billion. CEO Sundar Pichai said in a conference call with analysts late Wednesday that cloud business performance “benefits from strong demand for AI infrastructure and AI solutions.”