New York, Feb 6, 2026, 16:45 (EST) — After-hours.
Shares of Alphabet Inc (GOOG) slipped 2.5% to $323.10 in late trading Friday, trailing a bounce across U.S. equities. The Invesco QQQ, which tracks the Nasdaq-100, added roughly 2.2%. SPDR S&P 500 ETF advanced by about 1.9%.
The split’s turning heads now that investors are less fixated on “who has AI” and more on “who’s footing the bill, and when.” At this point, for Alphabet, it’s all about that spending line—it’s where the trade is.
This week, Alphabet laid out its forecast for 2026 capex: $175 billion to $185 billion, a major leap from the $91.45 billion it expects to spend in 2025 — and far above analysts’ $115 billion estimate tracked by LSEG. Google Cloud pulled in $17.7 billion for the December quarter, up 48%. “Cloud at 48% growth with rapidly expanding margins is no longer a ‘show me’ story: they showed us,” said Zacks strategist Ethan Feller. 1
Alphabet turned in fourth-quarter revenue of $113.8 billion, a jump of 18%, and earnings per share hit $2.82. CEO Sundar Pichai pointed to AI investments and infrastructure as fueling both revenue and growth throughout the company. Still, operating income reflected a $2.1 billion charge for employee compensation connected to Waymo.
Pichai, in a blog post tied to the earnings call, said Search saw record usage in Q4, hitting its highest levels yet. He noted daily AI Mode queries per user have doubled in the U.S. since launch. AI Mode, Google’s conversational search, lets people stick with a running thread rather than firing off single queries. 2
Some analysts aren’t thrilled about the impact of the bigger budget on cash returns. Barton Crockett at Rosenblatt told MarketWatch the higher spending might crush free cash flow—the cash left once the bills and investments are paid—with a possible plunge of over 90%. 3
Chip stocks jumped regardless. Broadcom climbed roughly 7%, while Nvidia surged close to 8% Friday, with investors jockeying for exposure to what’s shaping up to be another robust year of AI infrastructure outlays.
The risk is clear enough: Alphabet pours money into a clogged supply chain, stretching out the payback period and putting pressure on margins—buybacks, too, could take a hit. Investors have already shown less patience for “spend now, explain later,” so that delay might end up weighing more than a headline earnings beat.
Macro data with the potential to jolt growth stocks arrives next week. The U.S. jobs report for January lands Wednesday, Feb. 11; January CPI numbers drop Friday, Feb. 13—both releases hit at 8:30 a.m. ET. Eyes are on Alphabet, too: its after-hours slide has traders speculating about further cuts to estimates as analysts recalibrate for heavier spending. 4
