Alphabet raises 2026 capital spending to $195 to $205 billion; shares fall after hours

Alphabet, the owner of Google, reported its second-quarter 2026 results on Tuesday, 22 July, after the close of US trading. Revenue rose 24% year on year to $119.8 billion, beating analyst expectations, which the company attributed mainly to rapid growth at Google Cloud and its investment in artificial-intelligence infrastructure.

Alphabet also raised its full-year 2026 capital-spending guidance to a range of $195 billion to $205 billion, up from $180 billion to $190 billion. Quarterly capital expenditure reached $44.9 billion (versus $22.4 billion a year earlier), and the company completed a $49.6 billion equity offering to help fund data centres and AI infrastructure.

Despite the revenue beat, Alphabet shares fell about 3.4% in after-hours trading as investors weighed the sharply higher spending. The jump in big-tech AI spending plans was a key driver of the chip-stock rally across Asian markets on Thursday, 23 July.