Alphabet Inc_ and Google logos by IgorGolovinov via Shutterstock
Alphabet (GOOG) (GOOGL) shares are inching lower on June 5, reflecting investor unease over the giant’s decision to raise a concerning $85 billion in fresh equity.
The announcement signals the AI spending race has grown so capital-intensive that even the titans are beginning to tap public markets to keep up.
The capital raise, which includes a $10 billion anchor investment from Berkshire Hathaway, comes on top of over $55 billion in debt Alphabet has already taken on since November.
Despite recent weakness, Google stock remains up more than 30% versus its year-to-date low.
What Triggered the Selloff in Google Stock
Investors are bailing on GOOGL shares mostly because the company has historically been a cash-generating machine; it typically buys back stock, not sell it.
Alphabet has already guided for capital expenditures to hit as much as $190 billion this year, with CEO Sundar Pichai being upfront about the possibility of them “increasing further” in 2027.
For investors, this could mean free cash flow turning negative for the next several years as the AI buildout accelerates, analysts at Melius Research warned in their latest research report.
That’s a structural shift in Google’s financial profile that income-oriented and value investors hadn’t priced in, and the stock is adjusting accordingly.
Are GOOGL Shares Worth Buying Today
Despite dilution concerns, the broader bull case for Google shares remains intact — and the numbers back it up.
In Q1, the company’s revenue from Google Cloud went up an exciting 63% on a year-over-year basis to $20 billion, with backlog nearly doubling sequentially to more than $460 billion.
AI solutions have become the single largest driver of cloud growth, with 75% of clients now using Alphabet’s artificial intelligence products.
The tech titan has also cut Gemini serving costs by an incredible 78% since last year, a margin tailwind that matters as inference volumes scale.
Additionally, AI Overviews has crossed 2.5 billion monthly users, and AI Mode has surpassed 1 billion.
So the capital raise, while jarring in isolation, is arguably a proactive move to lock in capital before a wall of competing IPOs — SpaceX, Anthropic, OpenAI — tightens the funding environment later in 2026.
Wall Street Remains Bullish on Alphabet Inc
Note that Wall Street remains bullish as ever on GOOGL stock for the next 12 months.
The consensus rating on Alphabet sits at “Strong Buy,” with the mean price target of roughly $431 indicating potential upside of about 17% from here.
On the date of publication, Wajeeh Khan did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.
