NEW YORK, Feb 1, 2026, 09:33 ET — Market closed
Alphabet’s non-voting Class C shares (GOOG) closed Friday at $338.53, slipping 11 cents after fluctuating between $330.88 and $340.25 during the session. With U.S. markets closed Sunday, focus turns to a busy week that might shape Google-parent shares heading into February.
Wall Street slid on Friday as investors digested Donald Trump’s pick of Kevin Warsh for Fed chair, a hotter-than-expected producer-price report, and mixed earnings results. “Markets are calibrating … the outlook for monetary policy,” said Michael Hans of Citizens Wealth. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.36%, the S&P 500 declined 0.43%, and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.94%; Microsoft and Meta Platforms both finished lower. Reuters
Alphabet faces a crucial stretch with key triggers on the horizon: a packed earnings slate and fresh economic data. Next week, earnings from heavyweights like Alphabet and Amazon drop, while the U.S. jobs report arrives Feb. 6. “The onus is going to be on them to deliver,” said Jim Baird, chief investment officer at Plante Moran Financial Advisors. Meanwhile, Sid Vaidya of TD Wealth pointed out that capex spending “will not see any letup.” Reuters
Alphabet announced it will release its fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 earnings on Feb. 4, with a conference call scheduled for 4:30 p.m. ET (1:30 p.m. PT).
Spending is the key variable here. Capital expenditures, or capex, cover what companies spend on data centers, chips, and other gear. Justin Post from Bank of America Securities projects Alphabet’s 2026 capex could hit $139 billion to $140 billion, well above the Street’s roughly $119 billion estimate. He added, “we expect sustained, elevated sectorwide infrastructure investment.” Investors
Traders are zeroing in on the usual suspects: ad demand across Search and YouTube, the speed of Google Cloud’s expansion, and if costs track revenue. How fast Google plans to monetize new AI features and boost ad returns might carry as much weight as the top-line figures.
A late Friday headline eased some pressure from a legal cloud but didn’t clear it away. A U.S. judge in San Francisco denied consumers’ request for over $2 billion in extra penalties in a privacy class action over alleged data collection despite users disabling a tracking feature. The lawsuit still carries a jury verdict of roughly $425 million in damages. Google has announced plans to appeal.
Google unveiled an AI model dubbed “Project Genie” that turns basic prompts into interactive digital worlds, sending videogame stocks tumbling Friday. Joost van Dreunen, a games professor at NYU Stern School of Business, said, “We’ll see a real transformation in development and output,” highlighting the impact generative tools could have on production timelines. Reuters
But the flip side is clear. Even if revenue stays steady, a larger capex push can put pressure on free cash flow. If cloud growth falters or advertising weakens, what started as a “spend cycle” narrative can shift fast into a margin issue. Legal and regulatory battles can also flare unexpectedly.
Coming up next are major events: Alphabet’s earnings report and conference call on Feb. 4 after the market closes, then the U.S. jobs report on Feb. 6. For GOOG, investors see this as the critical moment to gauge if the AI push remains a growth driver or is simply driving up costs.
