Google Books Stellar Performance in 2Q26

In the second quarter of 2026, Google's parent Alphabet reported very strong business results. Its revenues grew 24% to $119.8 billion, marking its 12th consecutive quarter of double-digit growth.

Net income surged 298% to $112.1 billion, as it benefited from a net gain of $98 billion on equity securities. Looking ahead, the company added it expects capex to “increase significantly” in 2027 as AI demand swells. The star of the quarter was Google Cloud, which continued to benefit from enterprise demand for AI infrastructure and services.

Revenue from the unit soared 82% to $24.8 billion, and operating income more than tripled to $8.8 billion. Google Services revenue increased 15% to $94.5 billion, driven by a 17% spike in Search, 15% in Google subscriptions, platforms and devices, and a 13% rise in YouTube advertising. “Our AI investments are redefining what’s possible across every part of our business,” explained Sundar Pichai, Alphabet CEO. He added that the ballooning demand for AI infrastructure and enterprise AI solutions helped drive the results.

The search giant also continued ramping AI investment, expecting to spend between $195 billion and $205 billion in capital expenditure this year, up from its previous forecast of $180 billion to $190 billion. “We have increased capacity quite significantly over the past three years. The demand still outpaces that investment,” explained Alphabet CFO Anat Ashkenazi.