Alphabet raises 2026 capex forecast to $195B-$205B

Alphabet GOOGL AI data centers and capex

Alphabet lifted its full-year 2026 capital spending forecast to $195 billion to $205 billion, up from $180 billion to $190 billion, and said spending would rise significantly again in 2027. The higher forecast was the main reason the shares sold off after the report, because it raises the cost of AI infrastructure against Cloud revenue and free cash flow. Traders now focus on whether Cloud growth can keep pace with the spend.

2026 capex guidance $195B-$205B, prior $180B-$190B
Management said capex would increase significantly in 2027
Q2 2026 capex $44.9B; free cash flow turned negative at -$5.9B

GOOGL around the story · hourly24 h reaction ▼ 8.17%

Moves this explains

GOOGL−5.15%Jul 21 · GOOGL fell 5.15% to $331.23 on the session before Alphabet's Q2 report, after its 2026 capex forecast was raised to $195B-$205B. The same day AI-capex names also fell (COIN -5.82%, PLTR -5.10%, AMZN -2.04%), while NVDA rose 2.71%, so the reaction centered on spending.GOOGL−3.55%Jul 22 · GOOGL fell 3.55% to $319.48 after its Q2 report: revenue of $119.8B (+24%) and Google Cloud growth of 82% were strong, but the 2026 capex forecast of $195B-$205B drove investor concern. Intraday press reports put the drop at 6-7%, so the close-to-close figure shown here is smaller. The same day the S&P 500 fell 1.08% and TSLA fell 9.70%.

Source

Bloomberg Government

Jul 22, 2026

Read the original ↗