Alphabet Plans Record $185B in 2026 Spending

This article first appeared on GuruFocus.

Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL, Financials) had better than expected profits in the fourth quarter and outlined a capital plan for 2026 that is far better than what analysts had predicted. The corporation plans to spend between $175 billion and $185 billion next year, which shows that it will keep investing in data centers and artificial intelligence.The company that owns Google made $2.82 per share on $113.83 billion in sales, which was more than the $2.64 and $111.12 billion that analysts had expected. Operating income went up 16% from the previous year to $35.93 billion.CEO Sundar Pichai talked on how quickly people are using the company’s Gemini AI platform, which currently has more than 750 million monthly users. Google Cloud’s sales jumped 48% from the previous year to $17.66 billion. Core services like Search and YouTube climbed 14% to $95.86 billion.Alphabet shares have gone up 8.5% in 2026, following a 65% spike last year. This makes it the Magnificent Seven. Investors are now wondering if the company’s success will continue as it spends a record amount on AI before its Q1 2026 earnings.