Alphabet Raises AI Capex to $190 B, Shares Jump 10% on Cloud Growth
Alphabet’s shares jumped 10% after strong Google Cloud and AI product growth, lifting its year-to-date gain to 23% and making it the largest S&P 500 contributor in 2026. The company raised AI infrastructure capex to $180–190 billion for 2026 and may capture more cloud demand as OpenAI misses revenue targets.
1. Cloud and AI Growth Fuel Share Rally
Alphabet’s shares soared 10% after reporting strong Google Cloud revenue growth and AI product adoption, boosting year-to-date gains to 23% and making it the top contributor to the S&P 500’s 2026 advance.
2. Massive AI Infrastructure Investment
The company raised AI infrastructure capital expenditure guidance to $180–190 billion for 2026, reflecting plans to expand data centers, high-performance chips and networking for AI workloads.
3. OpenAI Shortfall Opens Cloud Opportunity
OpenAI missed its revenue and user growth targets at the end of 2025, creating an opportunity for Alphabet to secure additional cloud contracts and showcase its Gemini 3 AI platform.