Reddit and a growing number of news publishers are reportedly mulling whether to cut off Google’s access to their sites as the Big Tech giant’s controversial AI search summaries siphon web traffic.
Reddit, which previously inked a $60 million per year deal which permitted Google to use its online message boards to train AI models, has grown disillusioned with the search giant’s tactics and is debating whether the agreement is worth it, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
USA Today, Politico, Reuters and The Economist are also reconsidering their ties to Google over its use of AI-generated “overviews” – which are placed at the top of search results instead of links to outside outlets in what critics have called an existential threat to online publishers.
Reddit is considering cutting ties despite having a content partnership with Google. SDF_QWE – stock.adobe.com
Social media community forum Reddit is considering cutting off Google’s access to the site. Amanda Alamsyah – stock.adobe.com “It’s time to take a stand and say enough is enough,” said USA Today CEO Mike Reed told the Journal.
Google search traffic from US users to USA Today plummeted by nearly half over the 12 months ending in June 2026, according to data compiled by Semrush. Traffic plunged 23% for Politico and by more than 85% for Business Insider, the report found.
USA Today – which is already suing Google for alleging operating a monopoly over digital advertising technology – is considering cutting off Google’s access to its articles for AI training. That would also mean its articles would no longer appear in search results.
Politico, which is owned by publishing giant Axel Springer, has discussed blocking Google and other bots from accessing its non-paywalled articles, according to the report. Reuters is also considering limits.
USA Today could cut off Google’s access to its articles. sharafmaksumov – stock.adobe.com “We are certainly looking at the economic trade-offs between search and AI summaries,” Reuters President Paul Bascobert told the Journal.
A Google spokesperson pushed back on the criticism, asserting that publishers are able to opt out of allowing their sites to be used for training its Gemini AI models without removing themselves from search.
“Google’s AI Search features send billions of clicks to the web every week, meeting people’s evolving preferences for how they want to find information while driving significant traffic to websites,” the spokesperson said.
Google is accused of siphoning traffic from news publishers. Koshiro K – stock.adobe.com “Our AI features highlight links to the web and help creators and publishers grow their audiences, and we offer clear controls for website owners to manage their content.”
Meanwhile, Google has turned up the heat on news publishers.
An example of AI Overview on a Google search page. Google In June, The Information reported that the company was pitching news publishers on a pilot program to have their sites featured in AI Overviews – but only if they agreed to allow sweeping access to their content for AI training.
Warren Buffett once joked that outgoing Apple (AAPL -1.05%) CEO Tim Cook had made more money for Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA -0.07%) (BRKB -0.21%) than Buffett ever did. Of course, it was Buffett's decision to pile about $36 billion into Apple stock between 2016 and 2018, an investment that resulted in massive capital gains for Berkshire shareholders.
Unfortunately, Berkshire has sold more than 75% of its Apple stake since 2018. The stock now trades near its all-time high, about 70% higher than where it was when Buffett started selling the stock in earnest in early 2024. He even joked in an interview earlier this year that he sold it too soon.
Indeed, if Berkshire had held on to every share it owned in 2018, its stake in Apple would be worth approximately $330 billion today.
Image source: The Motley Fool.
Buffett's most profitable investment ever Despite "selling too early," the Apple investment netted over $100 billion in profit for Berkshire Hathaway, Buffett estimated earlier this year. With the stock price climbing to a new all-time high this month, the value of that investment keeps going up. Apple remains Berkshire's largest equity position.
The reason Buffett sold the stock was simple: The value of Berkshire's stake in the tech company had exceeded the value of everything else in its equity portfolio in 2023.
"I'm very happy to have it be our largest holding," he explained. "I was not happy to have it be as large as almost everything else combined."
While Buffett prefers a relatively concentrated portfolio and favors a strategy of letting his winners run, the portfolio's degree of concentration in Apple became too large even for him. It was all about risk management.
However, 2026 has been another strong year for Apple. The market has rewarded Apple for its relatively capital-light business model compared to other tech giants like Alphabet (GOOG +0.00%) (GOOGL -0.13%). While the hyperscalers are planning to spend hundreds of billions of dollars on capex this year to build and outfit new data centers, Apple's capex has barely budged. It spent about $11 billion on capital expenditures over the past 12 months. That's remarkable for a business that generated over $140 billion in cash from operations over the same period.
Apple has seen strong iPhone sales, and the market still expects strength from its flagship product with potential for an AI-driven upgrade cycle, thanks to the long-awaited Siri revamp released this summer.
Today's Change
(
-1.05
%) $
-3.44
Current Price
$
324.30
Interestingly, Buffett and his successor, Greg Abel, have turned their attention to Alphabet amid its capital spending spree, suggesting the market may have become overly pessimistic about the potential returns on hyperscalers' data center investments. The size of Berkshire Hathaway's bet on Alphabet is quickly approaching the amount of capital Buffett poured into Apple a decade ago.
Buffett said he'd be interested in buying more Apple stock again if the price came down, but the price has only moved higher since he made that comment. Even at today's price, he and Abel appear to be comfortable with Berkshire's current stake in Apple, keeping it as the largest position in the company's stock portfolio for now.
CNBC's MacKenzie Sigalos reports on why Alphabet's results and spending outlook could move the broader AI trade — with investors looking for cloud growth and resilient search profits to support a capex bill Bank of America sees nearing $300 billion next year.
SummaryAlphabet's Q2 earnings will likely be more than just a quarterly report. Investors will also see it as an important gauge of whether the AI buildout cycle remains intact.Continued strength in Google Cloud and a confirmation of high AI investment could provide positive read-through for certain Quant Strong Buy stocks.Investors will also look ahead for additional confirmation in a matter of days, with Microsoft and Amazon reporting next week.Together, those results could help determine whether July's pullback was the beginning of a deeper correction in the AI trade or just a healthy reset before the next growth phase.I am Steven Cress, Head of Quantitative Strategies at Seeking Alpha. I manage the quant ratings and factor grades on stocks and ETFs in Seeking Alpha Premium. I also lead Quant Growth and Income, which is a model portfolio for dividend investors interested in capital appreciation and income. Getty Images
GOOG Earnings and AI "Picks-and-Shovels" Stocks Alphabet's (GOOG) (GOOGL) second quarter earnings report could provide one of the clearest signals yet on whether hyperscalers remain committed to the artificial intelligence infrastructure buildout. Investors will closely watch for management
98.44K Followers
Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have a beneficial long position in the shares of CRDO, LITE either through stock ownership, options, or other derivatives. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it. I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.
Seeking Alpha's Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given that any particular security, portfolio, transaction or investment strategy is suitable for any specific person. The author is not advising you personally concerning the nature, potential, value or suitability of any particular security or other matter. You alone are solely responsible for determining whether any investment, security or strategy, or any product or service, is appropriate or suitable for you based on your investment objectives and personal and financial situation. Steven Cress is the Head of Quantitative Strategy at Seeking Alpha. Any views or opinions expressed herein may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank.
SummaryAccording to Visible Alpha consensus, Alphabet's Q2 revenue expectations have increased to $117.2B from $113.0B in February, driven by resilience in its ad business and potential strength in Google Cloud.Since October 2025, Google Cloud margin has expanded from 20% to 33% in April 2026.Looking ahead to Q3 2026, analysts now expect the Cloud business to generate a 31.2% operating profit margin, down from an expected 35% last quarter. VV Shots/iStock Editorial via Getty Images
Alphabet Q2 earnings preview: What’s happening to Cloud margins? According to Visible Alpha consensus, Alphabet Inc.'s (GOOG) Q2 revenue expectations have increased to $117.2 billion from $113.0 billion in February, driven by resilience in its
Shares of Alphabet (GOOGL - Free Report) have gained 0.3% over the past four weeks to close the last trading session at $347.15, but there could still be a solid upside left in the stock if short-term price targets of Wall Street analysts are any indication. Going by the price targets, the mean estimate of $434.37 indicates a potential upside of 25.1%.
The mean estimate comprises 52 short-term price targets with a standard deviation of $29.33. While the lowest estimate of $365.00 indicates a 5.1% increase from the current price level, the most optimistic analyst expects the stock to surge 48.4% to reach $515.00. It's very important to note the standard deviation here, as it helps understand the variability of the estimates. The smaller the standard deviation, the greater the agreement among analysts.
While the consensus price target is a much-coveted metric for investors, solely banking on this metric to make an investment decision may not be wise at all. That's because the ability and unbiasedness of analysts in setting price targets have long been questionable.
But, for GOOGL, an impressive average price target is not the only indicator of a potential upside. Strong agreement among analysts about the company's ability to report better earnings than they predicted earlier strengthens this view. While a positive trend in earnings estimate revisions doesn't gauge how much a stock could gain, it has proven to be powerful in predicting an upside.
Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Here's What You Should Know About Analysts' Price TargetsAccording to researchers at several universities across the globe, a price target is one of many pieces of information about a stock that misleads investors far more often than it guides. In fact, empirical research shows that price targets set by several analysts, irrespective of the extent of agreement, rarely indicate where the price of a stock could actually be heading.
While Wall Street analysts have deep knowledge of a company's fundamentals and the sensitivity of its business to economic and industry issues, many of them tend to set overly optimistic price targets. Are you wondering why?
They usually do that to drum up interest in shares of companies that their firms either have existing business relationships with or are looking to be associated with. In other words, business incentives of firms covering a stock often result in inflated price targets set by analysts.
However, a tight clustering of price targets, which is represented by a low standard deviation, indicates that analysts have a high degree of agreement about the direction and magnitude of a stock's price movement. While that doesn't necessarily mean the stock will hit the average price target, it could be a good starting point for further research aimed at identifying the potential fundamental driving forces.
That said, while investors should not entirely ignore price targets, making an investment decision solely based on them could lead to disappointing ROI. So, price targets should always be treated with a high degree of skepticism.
Here's Why There Could be Plenty of Upside Left in GOOGLAnalysts' growing optimism over the company's earnings prospects, as indicated by strong agreement among them in revising EPS estimates higher, could be a legitimate reason to expect an upside in the stock. That's because empirical research shows a strong correlation between trends in earnings estimate revisions and near-term stock price movements.
For the current year, four estimates have moved higher over the last 30 days compared to no negative revision. As a result, the Zacks Consensus Estimate has increased 0.3%.
Moreover, GOOGL currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), which means it is in the top 5% of more than 4,000 stocks that we rank based on four factors related to earnings estimates. Given an impressive externally-audited track record, this is a more conclusive indication of the stock's potential upside in the near term. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks here >>>> .
Therefore, while the consensus price target may not be a reliable indicator of how much GOOGL could gain, the direction of price movement it implies does appear to be a good guide.
Alphabet Inc. (GOOG - Free Report) closed the last trading session at $346.19, gaining 0% over the past four weeks, but there could be plenty of upside left in the stock if short-term price targets set by Wall Street analysts are any guide. The mean price target of $434.82 indicates a 25.6% upside potential.
The average comprises 51 short-term price targets ranging from a low of $365.00 to a high of $515.00, with a standard deviation of $29.43. While the lowest estimate indicates an increase of 5.4% from the current price level, the most optimistic estimate points to a 48.8% upside. More than the range, one should note the standard deviation here, as it helps understand the variability of the estimates. The smaller the standard deviation, the greater the agreement among analysts.
While the consensus price target is a much-coveted metric for investors, solely banking on this metric to make an investment decision may not be wise at all. That's because the ability and unbiasedness of analysts in setting price targets have long been questionable.
But, for GOOG, an impressive average price target is not the only indicator of a potential upside. Strong agreement among analysts about the company's ability to report better earnings than they predicted earlier strengthens this view. While a positive trend in earnings estimate revisions doesn't gauge how much a stock could gain, it has proven to be powerful in predicting an upside.
Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Here's What You Should Know About Analysts' Price TargetsAccording to researchers at several universities across the globe, a price target is one of many pieces of information about a stock that misleads investors far more often than it guides. In fact, empirical research shows that price targets set by several analysts, irrespective of the extent of agreement, rarely indicate where the price of a stock could actually be heading.
While Wall Street analysts have deep knowledge of a company's fundamentals and the sensitivity of its business to economic and industry issues, many of them tend to set overly optimistic price targets. Are you wondering why?
They usually do that to drum up interest in shares of companies that their firms either have existing business relationships with or are looking to be associated with. In other words, business incentives of firms covering a stock often result in inflated price targets set by analysts.
However, a tight clustering of price targets, which is represented by a low standard deviation, indicates that analysts have a high degree of agreement about the direction and magnitude of a stock's price movement. While that doesn't necessarily mean the stock will hit the average price target, it could be a good starting point for further research aimed at identifying the potential fundamental driving forces.
That said, while investors should not entirely ignore price targets, making an investment decision solely based on them could lead to disappointing ROI. So, price targets should always be treated with a high degree of skepticism.
Why GOOG Could Witness a Solid UpsideThere has been increasing optimism among analysts lately about the company's earnings prospects, as indicated by strong agreement among them in revising EPS estimates higher. And that could be a legitimate reason to expect an upside in the stock. After all, empirical research shows a strong correlation between trends in earnings estimate revisions and near-term stock price movements.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year has increased 0.3% over the past month, as four estimates have gone higher compared to no negative revision.
Moreover, GOOG currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), which means it is in the top 5% of more than 4,000 stocks that we rank based on four factors related to earnings estimates. Given an impressive externally-audited track record, this is a more conclusive indication of the stock's potential upside in the near term. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks here >>>> .
Therefore, while the consensus price target may not be a reliable indicator of how much GOOG could gain, the direction of price movement it implies does appear to be a good guide.
Reddit RDDT stock has come under pressure this morning amidst reports of a high-stakes stand-off with Google over artificial intelligence (AI) data licensing and search traffic.
According to The Wall Street Journal, RDDT is threatening to “block” Google from scraping its platform for AI model training as the two negotiate a renewal of their existing data-licensing deal.
The WSJ report arrives at a time when Reddit stock is already gasping for upward momentum; at the time of writing, it’s down nearly 30% versus the start of this year.
In 2024, Reddit signed an estimated $60 million a year agreement allowing Google to ingest forum posts for AI training.
But now that the company is threatening to walk away, investors are pricing in the risk that RDDT could lose lucrative licensing revenue.
Reddit’s primary frustration stems from Google’s expanded AI Overview answer boxes at the top of search results.
These artificial intelligence-enabled summaries answer user queries directly on the search page – drastically cutting into the click-through traffic Reddit relies on to feed its core ad-based business.
RDDT shares are also crumbling because this news coincides with a broader tech rout as investors trim high-flying software and chip names ahead of major mega-cap tech earnings.
Investors are bailing on Reddit shares today primarily because the company faces a huge dilemma as it negotiates a renewal of its agreement with Google.
If RDDT licenses its human-generated discussions to a search engine, AI answer engines cannibalize its referral traffic.
But if it cuts off access, it risks both losing “high-margin” licensing income and being de-ranked or hidden in standard search indexing.
Until there’s more clarity on whether the licensing deal is renewed on favorable terms – or if Reddit can defend its organic search traffic – the market is treating the conflict as a headwind to both ad- revenue and data-licensing growth.
Reddit has grown at an attractive pace in recent quarters on the back of its role in AI training.
In fact, the company is expected to report $0.99 a share of earnings (EPS) for its current financial quarter in late August, more than double last year’s figure.
And that’s part of the reason why Wall Street analysts remain uber bullish on RDDT stock for the remainder of 2026.
The consensus rating on it sits at Moderate Buy currently, with the mean price target of $224 indicating potential upside of more than 30% over the next 12 months.
However, things could be meaningfully different for Reddit moving forward if the aforementioned agreement with Google ends up falling apart – and that’s what's weighing on its share price on July 22nd.
GOOGL stock is moving ahead of earnings. See the chart and price action here. When the Google parent reports second-quarter results after Wednesday’s close, investors will be studying a company that occupies a strange position: fabulously cash-rich, and yet visibly stretched by the scale of its own ambitions.
The financial newsletter Swiss Transparent Portfolio, in a preview published this week, put the paradox at the center of the moment.
“The most self-funding company on earth passed the hat,” the publication wrote. “That is the tension the market brings to Wednesday’s print.”
The tension is worth sitting with, because the raw numbers are staggering. By the newsletter’s calculation, “Alphabet generated $174 billion of operating cash flow over the last twelve months. It is, by that measure, the greatest cash machine in corporate history.”
Companies that generate cash on that scale are not supposed to feel constrained by anything. Alphabet, right now, does — and that gap between what it earns and what it wants to spend is precisely what has investors on edge heading into the print.
What Would Validate the BullsThe disagreement about what it all means is unusually sharp. On one side sit the optimists, who read the heavy spending as a rational response to demand the company simply cannot satisfy fast enough.
As Swiss Transparent Portfolio framed the bull case, “Bulls see a $460+ billion Cloud backlog, six years of current Cloud revenue already contracted, and a management team told by its own customers that demand is constrained only by capacity.”
In that telling, the spending is not a warning sign at all. It is a company sprinting to keep up with orders already on the books.
What Would Empower the BearsThe skeptics see the same picture and flinch. The newsletter summarized their concerns bluntly: “Bears see $750+ billion of combined Big Tech capex this year, a depreciation bill rising ~$13 billion, fresh dilution, and a Gemini 3.5 Pro delay that just knocked 3% off the stock.”
Each item on that list chips away at the bull story — a mounting cost base, shares that no longer feel quite as scarce, and a reminder, in the Gemini stumble, that even the most lavishly funded ambitions can slip.
What makes today so uncomfortable is that both readings are credible, and the print could tip the balance either way.
Strong cloud growth and disciplined guidance would hand the bulls their proof. Any softness — in cloud, in margins, in the tone around future spending — would let the bears press their case.
The newsletter captured the resulting paralysis well: “This is exactly the kind of moment where most investors freeze: a wonderful business, a staggering bet, and no consensus on which chart matters.”
That is the real source of the jitters. Alphabet’s earnings power has never been in doubt. Whether that power is finally big enough to cover its appetite is the question the market cannot answer until the numbers land — and it is exactly the question tonight is built to settle.
GOOGL Stock Price Activity: Alphabet shares were up 0.35% at $348.35 at the time of publication Wednesday, according to data from Benzinga Pro.
Over the past month, GOOGL has declined about 2.7% versus a 0.1% rise in the S&P 500 and is up roughly 10% year-to-date compared to the index’s 9.2% gain.
Photo: Shutterstock
This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs
Google reportedly expanded its office presence in Miami this year after two of its co-founders purchased houses in South Florida.
Alphabet, the parent company of Google, signed a lease expanding its existing 10,000-square-foot satellite office in Miami's financial district by an additional 45,000 square feet, two people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg News.
The outlet reported that the expansion was driven in part by the recent home purchases in the area by Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin – two billionaires who have bought homes outside of California and relocated business entities out of the Golden State as voters weigh a billionaire tax on this fall's ballot.
Google first opened an office in Miami in 2016 and the expansion will increase its presence in Florida – though the South Florida office remains much smaller than the corporate headquarters at its Mountain View campus in California, which has over 10 million square feet of space, and its 1.7 million-square-foot Hudson Square campus in New York.
GOOGLE CO-FOUNDER RIPS CALIFORNIA BILLIONAIRE TAX: 'I FLED SOCIALISM'
Google co-founder Sergey Brin bought property in South Florida. (Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Images)
Page and Brin left their roles as executives in 2019 but remain on Google's board. Brin has reportedly taken an active role in shaping the company's initiatives around artificial intelligence (AI).
A report from earlier this year by the Wall Street Journal noted that Page bought a waterfront compound for $101.5 million in December as well as a nearby home for $71.9 million, which he bought in early January, while Brin was reportedly closing in on a purchase at that time as well.
Bloomberg's report said that Brin bought a $51 million waterfront home in Miami Beach shortly after Page's purchase.
LARRY PAGE DROPS $173M ON MIAMI MANSIONS AMID CALIFORNIA BILLIONAIRE EXODUS TREND AS WEALTH TAX LOOMS
Google's office is located in Miami's financial district. (Jeffrey Greenberg/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
Brin was also linked to the purchase of a $42 million mansion on the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe in December.
The moves occurred as California voters will vote on a proposed one-time wealth tax on billionaires this November.
The proposed constitutional amendment would levy a one-time, 5% wealth tax on taxpayers and trusts with over $1 billion in covered assets for the purpose of funding the state's healthcare and food assistance programs, as well as public education.
GOOGLE CO-FOUNDER SERGEY BRIN JOINS CALIFORNIA EXODUS: REPORT
Ticker Security Last Change Change % GOOGL ALPHABET INC. 348.43 +1.28 +0.37% Assets covered by the tax would include businesses, securities, art, collectibles, and intellectual property – though real property, pensions and certain retirement accounts would be exempt.
If passed, the tax would apply retroactively to taxpayers who lived in California as of Jan. 1, 2026, with the tax due with 2027 tax filings.
Taxpayers could pay the tax in five equal installments, with subsequent payments subject to an annual deferral charge of 7.5% of the balance that remains unpaid.
Nadcházející výsledky Alphabetu patří k nejočekávanějším událostem tohoto týdne. Investoři budou vedle růstu tržeb a zisků sledovat především vývoj cloudového byznysu a známky toho, že masivní investice do umělé inteligence začínají přinášet odpovídající návratnost.
Pokračování článku je dostupné jen klientům placených služeb Patria Plus / Investor Plus případně uživatelům platformy Patria Direct. Pokud jste klientem těchto služeb, potom je nutné se Přihlásit.
V rámci placeného informačního servisu získáte přístup ke kompletnímu zpravodajství www.patria.cz bez jakýchkoliv omezení. Veškeré zprávy, komentáře a horké zprávy jsou zobrazovány terminálovou metodou (bez nutnosti obnovovat stránku) bez zpoždění a v plné verzi.
Nejen zpravodajství, ale i další služby získáte v Patria Plus / Investor Plus - sms a e-mailové zpravodajství, data z finančních trhů v reálném čase, kompletní analytický servis, rozsáhlé databáze časových řad ke stažení, prognózy vývoje a valuace, ekonomické fundamenty, nástroje a kalkulátory... více
Tagy: výsledky, Výhled, Alphabet, AI
Reklama
Na tomto místě můžete zahájit diskusi. Zatím nebyl zadán žádný názor. Do diskuse mohou přispívat pouze přihlášení uživatelé (Přihlásit). Pokud nemáte účet, na který byste se mohli přihlásit, registrujte se zde.
Aktuální komentáře
22.07.2026 16:28Alphabet čeká klíčová zkouška. Investoři chtějí vidět návratnost investic do AI 16:27AMD investuje do firmy Anthropic až pět miliard dolarů, Antropic od AMD koupí čipy 15:01Moneta by měla pokračovat v růstu. Klíčovým tématem bude kapitál a výplata akcionářům 13:29Autonomní agent AI se při bezpečnostním testu vymkl kontrole, uvedla OpenAI 13:15Za Starmera vedl obranu, nyní bude Healey šéfem britské státní kasy. Investoři tak sází na vyšší výdaje na obranu 11:40Goldman Sachs hledá příležitosti mimo AI. Sází na spotřebu, finance i cestování 11:10Zatímco se čeká na Google, ropa poskočila výš a opatrnost se vrací 8:56Rozbřesk: O neudržitelnosti nízkých cen potravin v ČR 8:50Babiš otevřel debatu o cukrové dani. Trhy sledují také Írán, léky a energetiku 6:03Cena pojištění AI dluhu roste. Oracle se dostal na úrovně z finanční krize 21.07.2026 17:18Dobré ekonomické a investiční příběhy. Ale ve špatné době? 15:46Zadlužení EU v prvním čtvrtletí vzrostlo na 82,9 procenta HDP, v Česku kleslo 15:40Microsoft investuje miliardy dolarů do infrastruktury francouzského Mistralu 15:32Tesla slibuje AI revoluci, ale letošní investice těžce zaostávají. Středeční výsledky budou testem trpělivosti 14:25UniCredit Bank Czech Republic and Slovakia, a.s.: Oznámení výplaty úrokového výnosu z HZL, ISIN XS2764457078 14:12General Motors zvýšila čtvrtletní zisk o 30 procent, zlepšila výhled 14:02Novo Nordisk žaluje Eli Lilly. Dánům se nelíbí reklama amerického konkurenta na léky na obezitu 12:01PODCAST ROZHOVORY: Od Skynetu k akciím. Kde podle Šimona Podhájského vznikne skutečná hodnota AI 11:15Ropa dál nestoupá, čipy zdraží a akcie dnes rostou 10:39Londýnská burza plánuje příští rok spustit nepřetržité obchodování
Reklama
Související komentáře
Nejčtenější zprávy dne
Nejčtenější zprávy týdne
Nejdiskutovanější zprávy týdne
Kalendář událostí
ČasUdálost Alphabet Inc (06/26 Q2, Aft-mkt) AT&T Inc (06/26 Q2, Bef-mkt) Dassault Aviation SA (12/22 Q4, Aft-mkt) GE Vernova Inc (06/26 Q2, Bef-mkt) International Business Machines Corp (06/26 Q2, Aft-mkt) Kinder Morgan Inc (06/26 Q2, Aft-mkt) Las Vegas Sands Corp (06/26 Q2, Aft-mkt) Moody's Corp (06/26 Q2, Bef-mkt) Philip Morris International Inc (06/26 Q2, Bef-mkt) ServiceNow Inc (06/26 Q2, Aft-mkt) Tesla Inc (06/26 Q2, Aft-mkt) Texas Instruments Inc (06/26 Q2, Aft-mkt) 7:00Equinor ASA (06/26 Q2) 19:00Deutsche Boerse AG (06/26 Q2) 22:15Raymond James Financial Inc (06/26 Q3)
Index Dow Jones +0,52 % na 52498,58 b. S&P 500 +0,11 % na 7517,66 b. Nasdaq Composite -0,17 % na 25793,08 b.
Wall Street se v úvodu seance obchoduje ve smíšených číslech. Investoři zaujímají opatrný postoj před výsledky technologických společností. Dnes po konci obchodování budou reportovat společnosti Alphabet, Tesla, IBM a ServiceNow.
Investory zaujala rovněž zpráva Wall Street Journal, podle které společnost AMD uzavřela se společností Anthopic kontrakt na dodávku AI serverů v hodnotě několik desítek miliard dolarů.
Dnes před otevřením trhu reportovala výsledky řada společnosti, příkladem je Philip Morris International, GE Vernova a AT&T.
Americká tabáková společnost překonala tržní predikce napříč hlavními ukazateli. Tržby poprvé překonaly hranici 11 mld. USD. Celoroční výhled očištěného zisku na akcii společnost mírně snížila, a to prakticky výhradně kvůli měnovým vlivům.
Co se týče výsledků amerického výrobce energetického zařízení GE Vernova. Její divize energetiky a elektrifikace nadále těží z rychle rostoucí poptávky spojené mimo jiné s výstavbou datových center a modernizací rozvodných sítí, přičemž větrná energetika zůstává ztrátová. Díky silnému přílivu objednávek, expanzi marží a výrazné tvorbě hotovosti společnost navýšila svůj celoroční výhled pro rok 2026.
Telekomunikační operátor AT&T reportoval výsledky za 2Q. Čistý přírůstek postpaid mobilních zákazníků překonal průměrný odhad analytiků. Nad očekávání byl rovněž reportován očištěný zisk na akcii a očištěný zisk EBITDA.
Index S&P 500 +0,11 % na 7517,66 b. Nejsilnější sektory S&P Změna Nejslabší sektory S&P Změna Základní materiály +1,5 % Informační technologie -0,4 % Utility +1,4 % Reality 0 % Energie +1,3 % Zdravotní péče +0,1 % Nejsilnější akcie S&P Změna Nejslabší akcie S&P Změna Super Micro Computer (SMCI) +23 % TE Connectivity (TEL) -7,3 % Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corp (WAB) +11 % GE Vernova (GEV) -6,4 % Dell Technologies (DELL) +9,7 % DoorDash (DASH) -3,9 % CME Group (CME) +7,2 % AppLovin Corp (APP) -3,5 % Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) +6,0 % Datadog (DDOG) -3,5 % Zdroj: Bloomberg
Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) shares are in the spotlight, with earnings on deck, a mixed technical setup and Edge Rankings all drawing attention.
Alphabet stock is trading near recent highs. What’s the outlook for GOOG shares? Earnings Preview & HistoryAlphabet is scheduled to report second-quarter earnings today after the market closes. Analysts estimate EPS of $2.88 along with revenue of $113.63 billion. For the prior quarter, Alphabet reported EPS of $5.11, beating the consensus estimate of $2.63. The company also posted revenue of $109.90 billion, exceeding the consensus estimate of $104.07 billion.
Alphabet has beaten EPS estimates in eight consecutive quarters. Over the last four quarters, the company has averaged an EPS surprise of 0.34% and a revenue surprise of 0.08%.
What To WatchBullish Long-Term, Bearish Short-TermFrom a trend perspective, Google is still holding the bigger uptrend: it’s trading about 8% above its 200-day SMA ($321.99) and about 1.3% above its 100-day SMA ($343.21), keeping the longer-term structure constructive. The shorter-term picture is choppier, with the stock about 1.5% below its 20-day SMA ($353.04) and about 5% below its 50-day SMA ($366.12), which is consistent with a cooling phase after the May swing high.
MACD is the cleaner momentum read right now: it’s below its signal line and the histogram is negative, which points to fading upside pressure unless buyers can push price back into the short-term moving-average band. In plain terms, MACD below the signal line often means rallies are having a harder time building follow-through.
The moving-average "map" also shows why rebounds may be work: the 20-day SMA is below the 50-day SMA (a bearish short-term crossover), even though the longer-term golden cross (50-day above 200-day) that formed in July 2025 still argues the primary trend hasn’t broken. That mix often produces range-like trading where rallies run into overhead supply and pullbacks get bought near longer-term support.
Key Resistance: $371.00 — a round-number area that also sits near the 50-day moving average zone, where rebounds can stall Key Support: $343.50 — a nearby floor that lines up closely with the 100-day SMA area, making it a logical spot for buyers to defend Benzinga Edge RankingsBelow is the Benzinga Edge scorecard for Alphabet Inc. Class C Capital Stock, highlighting its strengths and weaknesses compared to the broader market:
The Verdict: Alphabet’s Benzinga Edge signal reveals a momentum-and-growth-driven profile backed by very strong quality, but with less support from pure value. For longer-term bulls, that usually means pullbacks toward well-defined support can matter more than "cheapness," while upside follow-through often needs momentum to re-accelerate.
Alphabet Shares Trade FlatGOOG Price Action: At the time of publication, Alphabet shares are trading 0.27% higher at $347.14, according to data from Benzinga Pro.
Image via Shutterstock
This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs
Founder's ClubSwingTraderLeaderboardMarketSurgeeIBDIBD DigitalIBD LiveCustomer Center
My Stock Lists
Email Preferences
Help & Support
Sign Out
Search stocks or keywords
Sections
My IBD
MARKET TREND
STOCK LISTS
STOCK RESEARCH
NEWSECONOMY
VIDEOS & PODCASTS
HOW TO INVESTEDUCATIONAL RESOURCESStoreMy Products
Founder's ClubSwingTraderLeaderboardMarketSurgeeIBDIBD DigitalIBD Live
Recently Searched
Newly Public Memory-Chip Maker SK Hynix Soars Nearly 14%, Leads 18 To Today's Best Stock Lists
Super Micro Soars Late On Booming Margins, Orders; Dell, HP Enterprise Also Rally
Stock Market Rally Defies Rising Oil, Bond Yields; Chips Lead As Seagate, Micron Make Bullish Moves Google-parent Alphabet (GOOGL) will report earnings late Wednesday. The tech giant's cloud computing and advertising growth could frame expectations for Amazon.com (AMZN), Meta Platforms (META) and Microsoft (MSFT). While Google stock jumped on stellar Q1 results, it has now round-tripped and is trading near 349, up roughly 11% in 2026. For Alphabet's second quarter, Wall Street analysts model EPS of…
Alphabet (GOOGL, Financials), which owns Google and is a key provider of search, advertising and cloud services, will report profits as investors take a closer
A major milestone for the story of the stock market this year looms this evening. Alphabet (GOOGL) will report its earnings today after the bell. Reports suggest the firm will have big, positive news to share, so investors may have questions. For instance, do tget own the right stocks, between GOOG and GOOGL? And what ETFs can help maximize positive Alphabet earnings?
Key Takeaways: GOOG and GOOGL may be poised to spike when Alphabet earnings arrive after the bell Wednesday. ETFs like GXPC and GOOX offer strong weights towards those stocks, one long and one shorter term and tactical. While the stocks are different, their returns have mostly been the same, with about a 1% difference over three years. GOOG and GOOGL operate mostly the same, except for the voting rights they confer. GOOG, Class C shares, offer no voting rights, while GOOGL, Class A shares, do. Otherwise, they mostly operate in the same way, with just about a 1% return difference over the last three years, per YCharts data.
What kind of ETFs, then, offer the best options to lean into GOOG and GOOGL for Alphabet earnings today? ETF Database’s ETF Stock Exposure tool can help find the funds with the largest weights to specific stocks.
See more: 3 Reasons to Use Active ETFs in Your Core Allocation
For example, the Global X PureCap MSCI Communications Services ETF (GXPC) has big allocations to both stocks. The strategy charges 15 basis point (bps) to track the MSCI USA Communication Services Index.
GOOGL sits at a remarkable 31.4% weight in the ETF’s holdings per ETF Database. GOOG, meanwhile, makes up nearly 25%. Together, more than half of the ETF’s assets are in Alphabet stocks.
GXPC can play a longer term role than just a tactical move for Alphabet earnings, of course. There are, however, tactical ETFs that specifically target Alphabet and its related stocks. The T-Rex 2X Long Alphabet Daily Target ETF (GOOX) charges a 105 bps-fee to offer 2x daily leveraged exposure to GOOG’s price movements.
Together, those strategies can help investors get more out of positive Alphabet earnings. Either way, making sure one has the desired amount of GOOG or GOOGL matters as the firm continues to play a leading role in the stock market.
For more news, information, and analysis, visit the Equity ETF Content Hub.
Two Magnificent Seven names are heading into the back half of 2026 on opposite trajectories. Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA | TSLA Price Prediction) is down 15.74% year to date, weighed down by a delivery slump and a massive AI spending ramp. Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) is up 10.46% YTD and riding a Cloud franchise growing 63% YoY.
My bold 2027 targets: $550 for Tesla and $500 for Google. Here is how each gets there.
Tesla: Why Shares Are Stuck Right Now Tesla is caught between a fading auto business and an AI story that has yet to fully monetize. Vehicle deliveries declined 16% YoY in Q4 25, and shares are off 4.35% in the past week and 5.38% in the past month.
With a beta of 1.802, shares move sharply in either direction. Prediction markets currently price just a 16.5% probability of an Optimus release by year-end 2026, so patience on AI product timing is warranted.
The Path to $550 Reaching $550 from today’s $378.93 would require a gain of 45.1%. With forward EPS of $2.44, that implies a forward P/E of 225x, versus our base case’s 209x. So the multiple expansion is modest; the heavy lifting is EPS.
Services revenue growing 42% YoY, 1.28M FSD subscriptions (+51%), and Robotaxi expansion from Austin to Dallas, Houston, and beyond can drive that. Wall Street targets $425.22 with 23 buys against 6 sells. My take: consensus underweights the software optionality. The risk is margin compression if auto pricing weakens further.
Google: Why Shares Are Sliding Despite Blowout Earnings Google delivered a 94.10% EPS beat in Q1 26, yet shares are down 5.79% over the past month. Why? 2026 CapEx guidance of $175 to $185 billion spooked investors worried about ROI. Free cash flow already fell 46.63% YoY in Q1. Beta sits at 1.247, and shares trade 6% below the 52-week high of $404.23.
The Path to $500 Getting to $500 from $346.19 requires a gain of 44.4%. With forward EPS of $15.47, that implies a forward P/E of 32x, versus the base-case 26x. That is a reasonable rerating for a business where Google Cloud is compounding at 63% YoY with a $460 billion backlog.
Act now: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and Google didn't make the cut. Grab the names FREE today.
Sundar Pichai said it plainly: “2026 is off to a terrific start. Our AI investments and full stack approach are lighting up every part of the business.” 58 buys, 7 holds, zero sells, with 89% bullish sentiment. The risk is CapEx ROI slipping.
Current Valuation in Context Tesla currently trades at roughly 155x forward earnings, still a nosebleed multiple carried by AI optionality.
Google trades at just 22x forward earnings against 21.8% revenue growth and 82% earnings growth, which looks genuinely cheap for a hyperscaler. TSLA’s 10-year return of 2,457% and GOOG’s 840% show both have delivered before.
The Bottom Line on $550 and $500 Tesla to $550 requires a 45.1% gain and hinges on Robotaxi scale plus FSD monetization. Google to $500 needs a 44.4% gain and a modest multiple rerating on Cloud momentum.
I view Google as the higher-probability path and Tesla as the stretch.
What derails both: an AI CapEx digestion phase that compresses margins across the group. Returns at this level shouldn’t be expected every year, but we’ve outlined the blueprint for how Tesla and Google could reach $550 and $500 in 2027.
Act now: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and Google didn't make the cut. Grab the names FREE today.
10am: Dow opens higher, Nasdaq hit by semis selling There has been another uneven open on Wall Street, with investors selling out of technology stocks ahead of key earnings from Alphabet and Tesla after the close.
The Dow Jones has opened up 225 points, or 0.4%, while the Nasdaq fell 0.2%, with the S&P 500 oscillating around the flatline.
Industrial and defensive names led the Dow gains, with Honeywell, Verizon, 3M and Chevron the top risers.
Meanwhile, the Nasdaq's fall resulted from declines in semiconductor and AI-linked stocks, with AppLovin, SanDisk, Workday, Palantir and Lam Research leading falls as investors take profits after the rally yesterday.
An exception is Super Micro Computer, which jumped over 20% after the company released preliminary results showing significantly stronger-than-expected gross margins and a record order backlog, despite revenue tracking near the low end of its guidance.
8.10am: Tech stocks to see Wall Street open lower Wall Street stocks looked set for a weaker open on Wednesday as investors lock in profits in technology stocks ahead of crucial earnings from Google owner Alphabet and Tesla, while escalating tensions in the Middle East push oil prices to six-week highs.
Dow Jones futures were down 0.2%, while the S&P 500 was called 0.4% lower and the hardest hit is expected to be the Nasdaq, where futures have dropped 1%, with chipmakers leading the pre-market declines after a sharp rebound in the previous session.
The cautious mood follows a strong rally the day before, when the Dow Jones rose 380 points, or 0.7%, to 52,443, the S&P 500 gained 0.9% to 7,546, and the Nasdaq climbed 1.3% to 29,316, helped by a powerful recovery in semiconductor stocks after weeks of heavy selling.
Earnings from Alphabet and Tesla are due after the bell, with analysts seeing these as key tests for the artificial intelligence trade.
Markets will be watching Alphabet for updates on AI-related capital spending and monetisation, while Tesla's results are expected to provide fresh detail on autonomous driving, robotics and vehicle demand.
Results from Texas Instruments, IBM and ServiceNow will also be closely watched in the evening, while Philip Morris, GE Vernova and AT&T report before the opening bell.
Chip stocks were under pressure in pre-market trading as investors took profits following a 5.5% jump in the sector the previous session.
Semiconductor stocks have been under heavy pressure in recent weeks as hedge funds aggressively unwound crowded AI trades, driving the sector around 25% below its early June peak.
Tuesday's rebound came as "the Momo guys [momentum traders] ran out of stock to sell, so the pressure was off," said market strategist Kenny Polcari at Slatestone Wealth, suggesting the wave of forced selling may have largely run its course.
Meanwhile, Brent crude traded above $94 a barrel after another night of US strikes on Iranian targets and renewed threats to shipping routes in the Middle East from Yemen.
The stronger oil price has revived concerns that inflation could prove more persistent, complicating the Federal Reserve's policy outlook just as investors had begun to scale back expectations of further interest-rate increases.
"10 straight days of US strikes and continued attacks on military targets have kept a geopolitical premium firmly embedded in oil prices and that will become more of an issue next month and the months after," said Polcari.
There is little in the way of economic data due on Wednesday, putting more of the onus on corporate earnings and developments in the Middle East.
US stocks opened lower on Wednesday as weakness in semiconductor stocks and higher oil prices weighed on investor sentiment ahead of a crucial day of corporate earnings led by Alphabet, Tesla and other major technology companies.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 78 points, or 0.15%. The S&P 500 declined 0.12%, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.46%.
Markets are entering a pivotal phase of the second-quarter earnings season, with investors looking for evidence that large technology companies are generating returns from their multibillion-dollar investments in artificial intelligence after months of AI-driven gains across Wall Street.
Investor attention is firmly focused on earnings from Alphabet and Tesla, the first of the so-called Magnificent Seven companies to report results this earnings season.
Alphabet's results are expected to receive particular scrutiny following the delay of a key Gemini AI model, which has raised questions about the company's AI strategy and its ability to compete in the rapidly evolving artificial intelligence market.
Alphabet shares were almost unchanged after market open, trading 0.03% higher.
Technology companies reporting after Wednesday's closing bell also include Texas Instruments, International Business Machines and ServiceNow.
Investors are expected to closely monitor commentary on artificial intelligence spending, cloud demand, enterprise technology budgets and expectations for the second half of the year.
The earnings reports are widely viewed as an important test of whether continued investment in AI infrastructure and software can justify elevated technology stock valuations.
Semiconductor stocks came under renewed pressure ahead of the reports. The iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) fell 1.2% in trading, while Texas Instruments slipped 1.56%.
Markets also continued to monitor developments in the Middle East, where geopolitical tensions pushed oil prices to their highest levels in more than a month.
Brent crude climbed about 3% to trade above $94 per barrel after briefly moving above $95, while West Texas Intermediate crude rose roughly 3% to above $86 per barrel.
The gains followed the 11th consecutive round of US strikes against Iran, while tensions surrounding shipping routes remained elevated after continued threats from Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi militia.
Higher energy prices have renewed concerns that inflation could remain elevated, potentially complicating the Federal Reserve's policy outlook.
According to the latest Reuters poll, economists expect the Federal Reserve to leave interest rates unchanged for the remainder of 2026, although many also see an elevated risk of future rate increases.
CME FedWatch data showed traders assigning more than a 70% probability that the Fed will leave rates unchanged at next week's meeting. However, traders were also pricing in a 70% chance of at least a quarter-point rate increase in September.
Corporate earnings continued to generate notable stock moves ahead of the market open.
Super Micro Computer surged 14% in trading after the AI server manufacturer announced it had secured more than $60 billion in new fourth-quarter orders and forecast gross margins above its previous expectations.
AT&T also gained 4% after reporting stronger-than-expected wireless subscriber additions during the second quarter.
As earnings season accelerates, investors remain focused on whether strong demand for AI infrastructure, cloud services and enterprise software will continue to support corporate growth and broader market valuations amid persistent geopolitical and macroeconomic uncertainty.
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL | GOOGL Price Prediction) is asking its investors to accept a trade-off that would have been unthinkable a year ago: give up the buybacks, and trust the AI bet instead.
According to CNBC’s MacKenzie Sigalos, in a segment on how “Alphabet sacrifices buybacks to fund its AI buildout,” the Google parent repurchased nothing in the first quarter, the first time it has bought back zero stock in a decade. That halts a buyback spree that returned close to $300 billion over the past five years. “Alphabet repurchased close to $300 billion worth of stock over the past five years, more than any of the other major AI hyperscalers,” Sigalos noted. “But then in Q1 it bought back nothing for the first time in a decade.”
The company’s own filings back that up. Alphabet listed no share repurchases in Q1 2026, while capital expenditures climbed to $35.67 billion, up 107.44% YoY, as the company nearly doubled its AI infrastructure spending. For the full year, Alphabet has guided to capex in the range of $175-$185 billion, disclosed in the company’s Q4 2025 SEC filings.
The Bet: Build, Don’t Buy Back The logic is a confidence statement about AI’s profitability. “Management is betting that the same cash can earn a greater return by building the infrastructure needed to run and sell AI at scale,” Sigalos explained. In other words, Alphabet believes a dollar spent on AI-serving infrastructure will beat the immediate earnings-per-share lift it would get from shrinking its share count.
Alphabet is also buying stakes. “They’ve also been putting it toward a very aggressive venture operation,” Sigalos said. “Close to $40 billion stake in Anthropic.” That is the eye-opener: the same cash that once flowed back to shareholders is now funding both Alphabet’s own data centers and a massive equity position in one of the leading rival AI labs. Alphabet is hedging its in-house Gemini development with a strategic position in a direct competitor, spreading its bets across the AI landscape.
The Proof Point Arrives at Earnings All of this sets up a high-stakes test when Alphabet reports. The number to watch is Google Cloud. “The whisper number is around 70% growth year over year,” Sigalos said, “and Alphabet has got to show that giving up the immediate return from buybacks can produce faster cloud growth and stronger margins.” Cloud grew 63% in the first quarter, so a step up toward 70% would help validate the reallocation. Faster cloud growth and expanding margins are the receipts management needs to justify sending buyback cash into servers and startups.
Act now: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and Google didn't make the cut. Grab the names FREE today.
Prediction markets already lean heavily toward a beat. Polymarket traders assign a 96.3% probability that Alphabet clears the earnings bar ahead of its upcoming earnings report, though shares have slipped -5.67% over the past month even as they sit up 83.14% over the last year.
The Bigger Question Underneath the numbers sits a debate about what this spending really signals. As the CNBC host put it, “Buybacks are what companies do if they don’t feel they have productive use for the cash. It’s surplus cash.” By that logic, halting buybacks says Alphabet believes it now has a productive use for every dollar. The bull case is conviction: a company seeing returns so compelling it would rather build than hand cash back.
The bear case is less flattering. It reads the buyback halt as competitive conformity in an AI arms race where enormous spending has become table stakes. The distinction matters for shareholders, because one interpretation means the money compounds and the other means it evaporates.
There is a telling detail in the comparison set. Among Alphabet, Microsoft, and Amazon, only Microsoft repurchased stock in the recent period. That makes Alphabet’s pivot part of a broader pattern of hyperscalers prioritizing the buildout over shareholder returns.
For now, Alphabet has drawn a clear line: the future of the company runs through AI infrastructure and strategic stakes like Anthropic. Whether that was visionary capital allocation or expensive herd behavior will start to become clear when Cloud’s numbers land. Investors who spent five years enjoying $300 billion in repurchases are being asked to be patient.
Act now: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and Google didn't make the cut. Grab the names FREE today.
Shares in Reach PLC (LSE:RCH), the publisher of the Mirror, Express and Daily Star, fell 19% to 47.72p after half-year results showed a 40% collapse in page views driven largely by Google, leaving the company leaning ever harder on cost-cutting to protect profits.
Revenue for the six months to 30 June fell 9% to £232.9 million, with digital revenues down 11.4% to £54.2 million.
The culprit is a structural shift in how Google handles search.
Since the rollout of AI Overviews, the artificial intelligence summaries that appear above search results, users increasingly get their answer on the results page and never click through to the publisher that produced the underlying journalism.
Google search referrals to publishers worldwide fell by roughly a third in the year to November, according to Chartbeat data, with referrals from the Google Discover feed down 21%.
That matters acutely for Reach, whose digital model has long depended on high volumes of casual visitors monetised through programmatic advertising, the automated auctions that sell ad space by the impression.
Indirect revenue, the volume-sensitive part of that mix, fell 16.2% in the half and 21.3% in the second quarter.
Print offered no shelter, with revenue down 8.3% to £178 million as circulation volumes dropped 22%.
Chief executive Piers North said the company was building greater independence from referral traffic through subscriptions and video.
Direct revenue, excluding the local business, grew 6%, and the company said on-platform page views stabilised through the second quarter.
The response has been cost reduction, with adjusted operating costs down 10.3%, well ahead of the 5% to 6% target, helped by last year's restructuring and the closure of two print sites.
That preserved an adjusted operating margin of 18.5%, up a percentage point, though adjusted operating profit still slipped to £43 million.
Statutory numbers were far uglier, with an operating loss of £43.5 million after a £36.1 million impairment on the print site closures, £21.7 million of amortisation and £18.9 million of restructuring costs.
The interim dividend was halved to 1.44p, rebased to free up cash for investment, with net debt rising to £47.5 million.
Reach said it remains on track to meet market expectations for the full year, where consensus adjusted operating profit is £95.9 million.
It expects industry headwinds and steeper circulation declines to persist into 2027.
Po včerejším růst na Wall Street (index SP500 ++0,9 %) nyní zámořské futures kontrakty ztrácí -0,3 %. Evropa sice včera nakonec uzavírala také v kladných úrovních, ale se skromnějšími zisky. Středeční ráno lze dle indikací čekat v regionu opět nevýrazné. Investoři sledují vývoj na komoditních trzích, cena ropy Brent se obchoduje nad 92 USD za barel (+2 %). Na mírové rozhovory USA s Íránem to zatím nevypadá. Růst cen ropy tak může znovu rozdmýchat obavy z inflace. Zlato získalo +1,5 % a obchoduje se na nejvyšší úrovní za 2 týdny, když mu pomáhá růst napětí na Blízkém východě. Dnes po zavření trhu budou reportovat firmy Tesla a Alphabet. Zisky společnosti Alphabet budou důležité pro měření nálady na trhu. Pozornost se bude upírat také na farmaceutické společnosti poté, co Trump oznámil plány na zavedení 100 % cla na generické léky do USA. Banco Santander vykázala zisk nad odhady. Praha včera rostla, dařilo se Erste i CSG. Na maximech, kde se obchodoval před dividendou se zvedl ČEZ. Vzhledem k vyšším cenám komodit by se ale mohli postupně na bankách objevovat prodejci.
, /PRNewswire/ -- Glancy Prongay Wolke & Rotter LLP, a leading national shareholder rights law firm, continues its investigation on behalf of Alphabet Inc. ("Alphabet" or the "Company") (NASDAQ: GOOG) investors concerning the Company's possible violations of the federal securities laws.
IF YOU ARE AN INVESTOR WHO LOST MONEY ON ALPHABET INC. (GOOG), CLICK HERE TO INQUIRE ABOUT POTENTIALLY PURSUING CLAIMS TO RECOVER YOUR LOSS.
What Happened?
On July 16, 2026, Bloomberg news reported that Alphabet's Google is "months behind schedule on delivering Gemini 3.5 Pro, its most powerful flagship AI model" due to the Company's ongoing coding efforts. Specifically, "[l]ate last month, Google updated the data being used to train Gemini in an attempt to improve [its] skills, but the results were disappointing."
On this news, Alphabet's stock price fell $16.40, or 4.4%, to close at $353.81 per share on July 16, 2026, thereby injuring investors.
Contact Us To Participate or Learn More:
If you wish to learn more about this action, or if you have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact us.
Charles Linehan, Esq.,
Glancy Prongay Wolke & Rotter LLP,
1925 Century Park East, Suite 2100,
Los Angeles California 90067
Email: [email protected]
Telephone: 310-201-9150 (Toll-Free: 888-773-9224)
Visit our website at www.glancylaw.com.
Follow us for updates on LinkedIn, Twitter, or Facebook.
Whistleblower Notice
Persons with non-public information regarding Alphabet should consider their options to aid the investigation or take advantage of the SEC Whistleblower Program. Under the program, whistleblowers who provide original information may receive rewards totaling up to 30 percent of any successful recovery made by the SEC. For more information, call Charles H. Linehan at 310-201-9150 or 888-773-9224 or email [email protected].
About Glancy Prongay Wolke & Rotter LLP
GPWR is a premier law firm with decades of experience representing investors and consumers in securities litigation and other complex class action litigation. Recognizing the firm's recent successes, GPWR was named one of Law360's Securities Groups of the Year and ranked second-highest in total investor recoveries by Institutional Shareholder Services Securities Class Action Services in 2025. GPWR's lawyers have handled cases covering a wide spectrum of corporate misconduct and relating to nearly all industries and sectors. GPWR's past successes have been widely covered by leading news and industry publications such as The Wall Street Journal, The Financial Times, Bloomberg Businessweek, Reuters, the Associated Press, Barron's, Investor's Business Daily, Forbes, and Money. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and ethical rules.
Contact Us:
Glancy Prongay Wolke & Rotter LLP,
1925 Century Park East, Suite 2100,
Los Angeles, CA 90067
Charles Linehan
Email: [email protected]
Telephone: 310-201-9150
Toll-Free: 888-773-9224
Visit our website at: www.glancylaw.com.
Can Google make artificial intelligence cheaper to run?
• Alphabet stock is trading at elevated levels. What’s the outlook for GOOG shares?
That could make Alphabet’s earnings call about far more than revenue and earnings per share.
The AI Race Is Shifting To EfficiencyOver the past two years, investors have largely measured AI leadership by one metric: spending.
Frozen v2 hints at the next phase.
According to the report, Google engineers believe the new chip could deliver between six and 10 times more tokens per unit of power than the company’s latest Tensor Processing Units (TPUs) by embedding portions of Gemini’s architecture directly into the silicon.
If those projections hold, the implications extend well beyond Google’s chip business.
Running AI models — known as inference — is quickly becoming one of the largest operating expenses for hyperscalers as millions of users generate prompts every day. Improving efficiency could allow Google to serve more AI requests while consuming less power and fewer computing resources.
Why Investors Should Listen CloselyThat makes Alphabet’s earnings call an opportunity for management to discuss more than just AI investments.
Investors will be listening for any commentary on custom silicon, inference workloads, TPU deployment and capital spending. Even modest updates could provide clues about how Google plans to manage AI costs as Gemini adoption expands.
The report also comes as investors increasingly question whether hyperscalers can continue raising AI capital expenditures indefinitely. If Google can improve AI economics through better hardware rather than simply buying more compute, it could reshape how Wall Street evaluates future AI spending.
The Bigger Story Isn’t Another AI ChipAlphabet has built custom AI chips for years, making Frozen v2 less significant as a product announcement than as a strategic signal.
The next competitive advantage in AI may not come from training ever-larger models. It may come from making those models dramatically cheaper to operate.
That’s why this week’s earnings call matters.
Wall Street already knows Google is spending aggressively to compete in AI. What investors don’t yet know is whether the company has found a way to generate more AI output without proportionally increasing its infrastructure costs.
If Frozen v2 is part of that answer, Alphabet’s earnings could reveal that the next battle in AI isn’t just about building smarter models — it’s about building more efficient ones.
Image via Shutterstock
Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL | GOOGL Price Prediction) looks compelling at $351.99, because the two-year Wall Street panic that conversational AI would cannibalize Google Search has been decisively invalidated by the numbers. For 24 months, the bear case rested on a single fear: that ChatGPT and its peers would siphon queries away from the world’s dominant ad engine. The most recent quarter shows the opposite happening in real time.
Alphabet is the parent of Google Search, YouTube, Google Cloud, Android, and Waymo. The stock has ripped 90.75% over the past year as investors reprocessed the AI threat as an AI tailwind. The question now is whether the current price already reflects that reappraisal, or whether more upside remains.
Why the AI Search Fear Just Died Q1 2026 demolished the bear thesis. Google Search & Other revenue hit $60.40 billion, up 19% year over year, with CEO Sundar Pichai confirming that “AI continues to drive search usage and queries are at an all-time high.”. Gemini-powered AI Overviews are expanding commercial ad inventory at higher click-through yields, Gemini-powered AI Overviews are expanding commercial ad inventory at higher click-through yields, with Hilton EMEA reportedly capturing one-third more clicks for one-fifth of the spend.
Google Cloud revenue grew 63% to $20.03 billion, operating margin expanded to 32.9% from 17.8%, and backlog nearly doubled quarter on quarter to over $460 billion. EPS came in at $5.11 versus $2.6327 estimated, a 94.1% beat, the fourth consecutive beat.
Why the Bears Still Have a Case Capex is the counterweight. Q1 capital expenditures more than doubled to $35.67 billion, free cash flow collapsed 46.63%, and management raised full-year 2026 capex guidance to $180 billion to $190 billion, with 2027 expected higher. Return on that infrastructure spend remains unproven quarter to quarter.
Antitrust overhang persists. Google Network revenue declined year over year, and Q1 net income was flattered by $36.91 billion in net unrealized gains on equity securities, introducing earnings volatility. Insider activity skews net selling across 181 recent insider transactions.
Act now: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and Google didn't make the cut. Grab the names FREE today.
Why Patience Might Still Win The Hold argument rests on entry timing. Shares are down 4.36% over the past month and sit 6% below the 52-week high of $408.37. With earnings due imminently and Polymarket assigning only a 59.5% probability of closing above $350 by month end, waiting for the print could offer a cleaner entry if capex commentary spooks the tape.
What the Numbers Actually Say Alphabet trades at $351.99 against a consensus analyst target of $433.51, implying 23.03% upside. Coverage is overwhelmingly positive with 14 Strong Buys, 43 Buys, 7 Holds, and zero Sell ratings. Valuation looks reasonable for the growth on offer: 26 trailing P/E, 25 forward P/E, with a PEG of 1.365. Year to date GOOGL is up 12.6%, while the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSEARCA:SPY) has gained roughly 3.3% since the Q1 filing, meaning the stock has lagged the broad market since its blowout report.
The Verdict at $350: Why the Buyers Win At $351.99, the setup for Alphabet looks favorable. Three simultaneous engines are all accelerating. Search at 19% growth invalidates the disruption narrative that suppressed the multiple for two years. Cloud at 63% growth with a $460 billion backlog gives Alphabet a second megacap growth business generating tripled operating income. Gemini, processing 16 billion tokens per minute via API, monetizes the same AI wave the market once feared.
A forward P/E of 25 for a business compounding revenue at 22% and expanding operating margins to 36.1% is a reasonable price for buyers. The thesis breaks only if capex returns disappoint by 2027 or an antitrust remedy structurally changes distribution. Both remain absent from the current trajectory.
Watch three things quarter by quarter: Cloud operating margin, Search query growth, and capex efficiency signals. If those hold, the analyst target north of $430 becomes the floor rather than the ceiling. The fear that defined Alphabet’s discount for two years is empirically dead, and the stock has not yet fully repriced.
Act now: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and Google didn't make the cut. Grab the names FREE today.
NEW YORK, July 21, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pomerantz LLP is investigating claims on behalf of investors of Alphabet Inc. (“Alphabet” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: GOOG). Such investors are advised to contact Danielle Peyton at [email protected] or 646-581-9980, ext. 7980.
The investigation concerns whether Alphabet and certain of its officers and/or directors have engaged in securities fraud or other unlawful business practices.
[Click here for information about joining the class action]
On July 16, 2026, Bloomberg reported that Alphabet’s Google is “months behind schedule on delivering Gemini 3.5 Pro , its most powerful flagship AI model” due to the Company's ongoing coding efforts. Specifically, the article reported that “[l]ate last month, Google updated the data being used to train Gemini in an attempt to improve [its] skills, but the results were disappointing.”
On this news, Alphabet’s stock price fell $16.40 per share, or 4.4%, to close at $353.81 per share on July 16, 2026.
Pomerantz LLP, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, London, Paris, and Tel Aviv, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, Pomerantz pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 85 years later, Pomerantz continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomlaw.com.
Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.
On Tuesday, Google DeepMind released Gemini 3.6 Flash, 3.5 Flash-Lite, and 3.5 Flash Cyber. Gemini 3.6 Flash is Google’s “workhorse model” that promises improved capabilities in coding, knowledge work, and multimodal performance while reducing token usage by up to 17%, making it cheaper than its predecessor 3.5 Flash.
Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite is the most cost-effective model in the class, and 3.5 Flash Cyber is a specialized model that was fine-tuned for finding and fixing cybersecurity vulnerabilities at a decent price point. This model will be exclusively available to governments and trusted partners as part of a limited access pilot program, according to Google.
Google says the focus on these releases is to deliver efficiency, latency, and reliability to customers that are building AI agents at scale.
The launch is notable not just for what Google shipped — cheaper, faster models optimized for coding, efficiency, and cybersecurity — but also for what it didn’t. The update doesn’t include the long-anticipated update to Google’s flagship model, Gemini Pro, which was last updated in February.
In the time since that launch, OpenAI has released GPT-5.5 and begun rolling out GPT-5.6, while Anthropic has launched Claude Opus 4.8 and Claude Sonnet 5 and has expanded access to its frontier Fable 5 model, highlighting the intense release pace of the rival labs.
Google teased the release of Pro as part of the 3.5 Flash release in May, saying the Pro version was “already being used internally, and we look forward to rolling it out next month.” Last week, Bloomberg reported that Google was facing internal delays in launching the 3.5 Pro as it struggled to meet internal performance goals.
Gemini Pro models are generally Google’s highest-capability offerings for complex reasoning and coding tasks, while Flash models prioritize lower cost and faster response times for production applications.
Google DeepMind product lead Logan Kilpatrick said Tuesday that the company is currently testing Gemini 3.5 Pro with partners and hopes to “land soon.” He also noted that the team has started its most ambitious pre-training run yet for Gemini 4.
When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.
Rebecca Bellan is a senior reporter at TechCrunch where she covers the business, policy, and emerging trends shaping artificial intelligence. Her work has also appeared in Forbes, Bloomberg, The Atlantic, The Daily Beast, and other publications.
You can contact or verify outreach from Rebecca by emailing [email protected] or via encrypted message at rebeccabellan.491 on Signal.
It is rolling out three new Gemini models as Google pushes to strengthen its AI lineup, lower usage costs and compete more directly in cybersecurity.
• What’s ahead for GOOG stock?
Google Targets CybersecurityGoogle is launching Gemini 3.5 Flash Cyber, a specialized model built to detect and patch software vulnerabilities.
The model will initially be available only to governments and trusted partners through a limited-access pilot. Google said it runs at a lower price per token than larger models, which could help the company compete more directly with Anthropic’s early lead in automated code defense.
Google is also releasing Gemini 3.6 Flash, which improves coding, multimodal and knowledge-work performance while using up to 17% fewer tokens than the previous model.
Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite is the fastest and lowest-cost model in the 3.5 family, designed for high-volume workloads and smaller tasks within larger AI-agent systems.
AI Race IntensifiesGoogle is also testing Gemini 3.5 Pro with partners and has started its largest-ever pre-training run for Gemini 4, offering more visibility into its AI roadmap after questions about product delays.
Technical AnalysisFrom a trend perspective, GOOG is still holding a longer-term uptrend (up 82.57% over the past 12 months), but the near-term tape is choppier: the stock is trading 1.1% below its 20-day SMA and 4.6% below its 50-day SMA, while staying 1.7% above the 100-day SMA and 8.4% above the 200-day SMA.
Earnings & Analyst OutlookThe countdown is on: Alphabet is set to report earnings on July 22 (confirmed).
EPS Estimate: $2.88 (Up from $2.31 year-over-year) Revenue Estimate: $113.63 billion (Up from $96.43 billion YoY) Valuation: P/E of 26.8x (Indicates premium valuation relative to peers) Analyst Consensus & Recent Actions: The stock carries a Buy rating with an average price forecast of $429.67. Recent analyst moves include:
TD Cowen: Buy (Raises forecast to $475 on June 9) Oppenheimer: Outperform (Raises forecast to $445 on May 15) JP Morgan: Overweight (Raises forecast to $460 on April 30) Top ETF ExposureSignificance: Because GOOG carries such a heavy weight in these funds, any significant inflows or outflows for these ETFs will likely trigger automatic buying or selling of the stock.
GOOG, GOOGL Price ActionPrice Action: Alphabet (GOOG) shares were down 0.89% at $348.23 and Alphabet (GOOGL) shares were down 0.83% at $349.08 at the time of publication on Tuesday, according to Benzinga Pro data.
Photo via Shutterstock
This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs
Alphabet Inc. GOOGL will report second-quarter earnings on Wednesday after the closing bell, with investors closely watching whether the Google parent can justify its growing investments in artificial intelligence amid delays to a key AI model and intensifying competition.
As the first of the "Magnificent Seven" technology companies to report earnings this season, Alphabet's results are expected to provide an early indication of demand for AI infrastructure and whether large capital investments are translating into business growth.
While the company's cloud business has remained a key growth driver, recent delays to its Gemini 3.5 Pro model have added to investor concerns about Alphabet's competitive position in the AI race.
According to LSEG data, Alphabet is expected to report second-quarter revenue of $116.93 billion, representing year-over-year growth of 21.3%.
Cloud revenue is expected to maintain growth of about 64%, while advertising revenue is forecast to increase 13.7%.
Benzinga Pro estimates second-quarter revenue at $113.6 billion and earnings per share of $2.87, compared with revenue of $96.4 billion and EPS of $2.31 in the same period last year.
Analysts also expect Google Cloud revenue to continue expanding rapidly, with Zacks estimating sales of $22.79 billion, up from $13.62 billion a year earlier.
Alphabet delayed the launch of Gemini 3.5 Pro from June.
The flagship model is designed to strengthen the company's position in AI coding tools and agentic AI applications, two of the fastest-growing areas of the artificial intelligence market.
The delay comes as Chinese open-source AI models continue to compete more aggressively with leading US developers and as investors increasingly question whether large technology companies are generating sufficient returns from heavy AI spending.
Dave Wagner, portfolio manager at Aptus Capital Advisors, said in a Reuters report, "While Google is missing the boat on AI coding and that's a very real growing concern ... Google's strategy is all about the ecosystem."
Guggenheim analyst Michael Morris maintained a Buy rating and a $450 price target on Alphabet ahead of the earnings release.
"Competitive noise creates attractive entry for full-stack AI leader," Morris said.
Freedom Capital Markets Chief Market Strategist Jay Woods also pointed to the Gemini delay as an important issue heading into earnings, saying investors will be looking for updates on the company's AI strategy.
"Watch for updates on Gemini and if the company’s massive AI spending continues," Woods said. "With billions being poured into chips, data centers, and Gemini development, Wall Street wants evidence that AI is driving growth rather than simply driving expenses."
Cloud growth and AI investments remain key focusAlphabet raised its 2026 capital expenditure guidance in April to between $180 billion and $190 billion.
The company has also announced plans to raise approximately $85 billion through equity offerings, including an investment from Berkshire Hathaway.
The company's cloud business continues to benefit from demand for AI infrastructure and custom AI chips, including multi-billion-dollar agreements with Meta Platforms and Anthropic.
Beyond the headline financial results, investors are expected to focus on Google Search advertising, YouTube advertising, Google Cloud performance, operating margins and capital expenditure plans.
Management commentary on Gemini, AI monetization and infrastructure investments will also be closely monitored as investors assess whether Alphabet's AI strategy is strengthening its broader business ecosystem.
Alphabet shares have declined about 9% since late April despite reporting a 63% increase in cloud sales during the previous quarter.
However, the stock remains nearly 13% higher for the year, making it the second-best performer among the Magnificent Seven group.
Alphabet is releasing three new Gemini models on Tuesday, including its clearest answer yet to Anthropic's lead in cybersecurity, as the company looks to show progress across a product pipeline that has faced delays and mounting competition.
Gemini 3.5 Flash Cyber is designed to detect and patch software vulnerabilities and will initially be available only to governments and trusted partners through a limited-access pilot. Google said the specialized model runs at a lower price per token than larger models.
That could help Google narrow its cybersecurity gap with Anthropic, which has built an early lead in automated code defense.
Google is also launching Gemini 3.6 Flash, which improves coding, multimodal and knowledge-work performance while using up to 17% fewer tokens and costing less per token than the previous model — a meaningful reduction in the cost of running high-volume workloads.
Read more CNBC tech newsElon Musk's Memphis AI empire is the epicenter of the data center backlashAMD launches Helios, its first rack AI system to rival Nvidia, adding Microsoft as newest buyerTSMC is accelerating Arizona factory build-out to capitalize on AI 'megatrend,' CFO saysLeather jacket worn by Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang goes for just under $1 million at Sotheby's auctionGemini 3.5 Flash-Lite, meanwhile, is Google's fastest and least expensive model in the 3.5 family, built for high-volume workloads and smaller tasks within larger AI-agent systems.
The broader lineup reflects Google's bet that price and efficiency can help offset its slower timing in several key product categories.
Artificial Analysis data shows Gemini Flash already undercuts comparable models from Anthropic, OpenAI and Chinese rivals on cost. According to the company, Gemini 3.6 Flash — the stronger of the two new models — is cheaper per task than GPT-5.6 Terra Max, Kimi K3 and Qwen 3.7 Max, while 3.5 Flash-Lite costs just a fraction of that.
The rollout comes on the eve of Alphabet earnings and as Chinese rivals gain momentum. Moonshot AI's Kimi K3 drew enough demand that the company limited new subscriptions and API access because of capacity constraints, while Alibaba is teasing Qwen 3.8 Max, which it said trails only Anthropic's Fable 5 in overall performance.
watch now
That demand highlights the other side of the AI race: Building a competitive model is only part of the challenge. Companies also need enough computing capacity to serve it at scale.
Google has a potential advantage through its custom chips, cloud infrastructure and ability to design models and hardware together, although the company has faced capacity constraints of its own.
Tuesday's model launches come as Google is reportedly developing a specialized chip designed to run Gemini up to 10 times more efficiently, part of a broader push to lower the cost of serving AI.
A Google Cloud spokesperson told CNBC in a statement that its teams are "constantly researching and experimenting with new innovations to deliver maximum performance and efficiency for our users and customers" and that "while not every project moves into production, this rigorous exploration is central to our full stack approach."
"By co-designing our hardware and software from the ground up, we ensure our systems are integrated and highly optimized for real-world workloads," continued the statement.
Google is also offering more visibility into its roadmap after questions about delays. Gemini 3.5 Pro is now being tested with partners ahead of broader availability, while the company has begun its largest-ever pre-training run for Gemini 4.
By You're currently following this author! Want to unfollow? Unsubscribe via the link in your email.
Google is releasing new AI models and teasing Gemini 4. Karl Mondon / AFP via Getty Images Google is rolling out some new AI models — but not the one that many were expecting.
The company announced on Tuesday three Gemini models that it said are faster and cheaper to run AI agents, as Google continues to double down on efficiency over raw power.
That's not entirely by choice: Google said that Gemini 3.5 Pro, the new frontier model it originally promised for June, is still in testing. Google also teased Gemini 4, the next big flagship model, although that is not expected for several months.
Of the new models rolling out this week, Google describes 3.6 Flash as the "workhorse" that is better than 3.5 Flash at tasks such as coding. Google said 3.6 Flash reduces token usage — units of text processed by AI — by up to 17% compared to its predecessor, according to analysis from Artificial Analysis Index, a benchmark for comparing AI tools.
Google also unveiled 3.5 Flash-Lite, which it says is its fastest and "most cost-effective" version of its 3.5 model yet.
Then there's 3.5 Flash Cyber, which is designed to find and fix cybersecurity vulnerabilities at a performance level similar to rivals but at a "lower price per token than larger models," Tulsee Doshi, senior director of product management in Google's Gemini group, said in a blog post.
That last part is crucial. Anthropic and OpenAI have both rolled out cybersecurity models in recent months, but it seems that, again, Google is hoping to undercut the competition on cost. Google said Flash Cyber will initially be exclusively available to governments and trusted partners.
With the realization that using lots of tokens doesn't always merit the best results, more companies are reining in their AI spending and turning to more cost-conscious models. That gives Google a strategic opening.
"Companies are already blowing through their annual token budgets, and it's only May," Google CEO Sundar Pichai said earlier this year. "If companies used a mix of Flash and other frontier models, they could save a lot of money."
Google says its new models hit the "sweet spot" of efficiency and power for running agents.
No sign of 3.5 ProGemini 3.5 Pro, Google's next big frontier model, is being tested with partners and will ship it "as soon as it's ready," the company said.
Business Insider reported in June that Google had pushed the targeted release date for 3.5 Pro to July. Bloomberg recently reported the model may have been further delayed.
As of Tuesday, Google hasn't got a single model among the top 10 ranking in the Artificial Analysis leaderboard, which uses a composite benchmark to score models across areas including maths and reasoning.
Google also said on Tuesday that it has begun its "most ambitious pre-training run yet" for Gemini 4, its next major model.
Typically, Google launches these big flagship models at the very end of the year, and it's not yet clear whether the 3.5 Pro will be powerful enough to vault Google back to the bleeding edge in the interim.
However, as companies take a more considered approach to their AI spend and cap their token usage, Google is positioning itself for the moment.
Read next
Hugh Langley You're currently following this author! Want to unfollow? Unsubscribe via the link in your email.
The models include one that is the company's most powerful and another that is fine-tuned for cybersecurity, as Google competes with rivals like OpenAI and Anthropic.
Alphabet's Google on Tuesday released a trio of cheaper versions of its Gemini AI model, but shared no timing updates for the flagship Pro model that has already seen its launch delayed by several weeks.
Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have a beneficial long position in the shares of GOOG, AMZN either through stock ownership, options, or other derivatives. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.
Seeking Alpha's Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. Any views or opinions expressed above may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank. Our analysts are third party authors that include both professional investors and individual investors who may not be licensed or certified by any institute or regulatory body.
When Berkshire Hathaway buys a stock, investors notice. After all, Warren Buffett has spent decades building one of the greatest investing records in history by buying exceptional businesses and holding them for years.
That's why Berkshire's decision to build a massive position in Alphabet (GOOGL 0.78%) (GOOG 0.78%) caught Wall Street's attention. In fact, the Oracle of Omaha has confirmed that he initiated the idea, even though the final execution took place largely after his successor took over the helm.
At first glance, the investment in this tech company may seem surprising. After all, Berkshire has generally refrained from investing in technology companies. But looking deeper, Berkshire's investment makes a lot of sense.
Here are three reasons why.
Image source: Getty Images.
Berkshire probably saw a great business before it saw an AI company Many investors think of Alphabet as an artificial intelligence (AI) stock, given the many attributes pointing in that direction. While there's nothing wrong with that view, Berkshire likely saw something different.
Long before Gemini, Alphabet had already built one of the world's strongest companies. Google Search remains the starting point for billions of internet searches. YouTube dominates online video. Android powers most of the world's smartphones, while Google Cloud has become an increasingly important enterprise platform.
Together, these businesses generate enormous amounts of cash every year. For perspective, Alphabet generated $165 billion in operating cash flow in 2025.
That matters because Berkshire Hathaway has never chased exciting technologies for their own sake. It has consistently invested in companies with durable competitive advantages and the financial strength to compound over decades. Alphabet fits that description remarkably well.
AI is likely the icing on the cake.
Today's Change
(
-0.78
%) $
-2.73
Current Price
$
349.26
Alphabet can afford to keep investing in the future, while others cannot AI has become one of the most expensive technology races in history. Building large AI models requires a significant investment in chips, data centers, electricity, networking, and engineering talent. Worse, the spending doesn't stop after a model launches. Companies must continue investing to improve performance and support growing demand.
As such, Alphabet enters this race with a major advantage. Its existing businesses generate enormous free cash flow, allowing the company to invest tens of billions of dollars in AI infrastructure without putting pressure on its balance sheet.
Conversely, many AI companies need outside funding or rapid commercial success to justify their investments. For instance, OpenAI raised $122 billion in March 2026 to fund its massive expansion.
Alphabet doesn't. It can keep investing through market cycles, giving it more opportunities to improve its technology -- getting it right rather than rushing it through -- while competitors face tougher financial constraints enforced by capital providers. Many times, staying power may prove just as important as innovation in a tech race.
AI strengthens businesses that already dominate their markets One reason investors have become overly optimistic about AI companies is that many of them are still searching for a profitable business model.
But Alphabet doesn't have that problem. Instead of building a business around AI, it uses AI to improve businesses that already reach billions of users.
Better search results create a better user experience. More intelligent recommendations increase engagement on YouTube. Gemini makes Workspace more useful, while AI capabilities help Google Cloud compete for enterprise customers.
In other words, AI doesn't need to create a new business for Alphabet to create value. It only needs to make its already outstanding businesses even stronger. That dramatically lowers execution risk compared with companies whose future depends almost entirely on AI adoption.
Buying a stock simply because Berkshire owns it has never been a sound investment strategy. But buying a great business, preferably at a reasonable valuation, is.
Alphabet combines one of the world's strongest competitive moats with exceptional cash generation and multiple opportunities to monetize artificial intelligence across its ecosystem. More importantly, it has the financial resources to keep investing as AI reshapes the technology industry.
Perhaps that's what Berkshire Hathaway recognized early on. And if you reach a similar conclusion, then buying Alphabet stock may be just a natural outcome.
, /PRNewswire/ -- The Law Offices of Frank R. Cruz continues its investigation of Alphabet Inc. ("Alphabet" or the "Company") (NASDAQ:GOOG) on behalf of investors concerning the Company's possible violations of federal securities laws.
IF YOU ARE AN INVESTOR WHO LOST MONEY ON ALPHABET INC. (GOOG), CLICK HERE TO INQUIRE ABOUT POTENTIALLY PURSUING A CLAIM TO RECOVER YOUR LOSS.
What Is The Investigation About?
On July 16, 2026, Bloomberg news reported that Alphabet's Google is "months behind schedule on delivering Gemini 3.5 Pro, its most powerful flagship AI model" due to the Company's ongoing coding efforts. Specifically, "[l]ate last month, Google updated the data being used to train Gemini in an attempt to improve [its] skills, but the results were disappointing."
On this news, Alphabet's stock price fell $16.40, or 4.4%, to close at $353.81 per share on July 16, 2026, thereby injuring investors.
Contact Us To Participate or Learn More:
If you purchased Alphabet securities, have information or would like to learn more about these claims, or have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact us:
The Law Offices of Frank R. Cruz,
2121 Avenue of the Stars, Suite 800,
Century City, California 90067
Call us at: 310-914-5007
Email us at: [email protected]
Visit our website at: www.frankcruzlaw.com.
Follow us for updates on Twitter at twitter.com/FRC_LAW.
If you inquire by email, please include your mailing address, telephone number, and number of shares purchased.
This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and ethical rules.
SOURCE The Law Offices of Frank R. Cruz, Los Angeles
The bar is higher for technology heading into the new earnings season, says Liz Ann Sonders of @CharlesSchwab. She tells investors to keep an eye on the reaction to AI spending figures compared to ROI, particularly as Alphabet (GOOGL) reports earnings Wednesday.
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG | GOOG Price Prediction) reports Q2 after the bell on July 22. Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) follows on July 30.
Both delivered blockbuster last quarters: Google leaned into AI infrastructure and Cloud, while Apple rode an iPhone 17 supercycle and a Services record. The setup makes this a rare moment to weigh two mega-caps running very different playbooks.
Cloud AI Carries Google. iPhone 17 Carries Apple. Google’s Q1 FY2026 landed at $109.90 billion in revenue, up 21.79% year over year, with EPS of $5.11 versus a $2.6327 estimate. Cloud grew 63% to $20.03 billion, with backlog nearly doubling quarter on quarter to over $460 billion.
Sundar Pichai told investors, “Our AI investments and full stack approach are lighting up every part of the business.” Search grew 19%, and Gemini now processes 16 billion tokens per minute via direct API, up 60% from the prior quarter.
Apple’s March quarter came in at $111.184 billion, up 16.6% YoY, with EPS of $2.01 against a $1.94 consensus. That is Apple’s eighth consecutive EPS beat.
iPhone revenue hit $56.99 billion on iPhone 17 demand, Services set an all-time high at $30.98 billion, and Greater China rebounded to $20.50 billion. Tim Cook called it “our best March quarter ever”.
Reinvesting Machine vs. Cash Return Engine Google is spending as if compute scarcity never ends. CapEx more than doubled to $35.67 billion in Q1, up 107.44% YoY, and 2026 guidance targets $175 billion to $185 billion. Free cash flow collapsed to $10.12 billion, down 46.63% — the tuition bill for industrial-scale AI.
Lens Alphabet Apple Core Bet AI compute, Cloud, Gemini iPhone cycle, Services flywheel Capital Move $175B-$185B CapEx $100B buyback Key Risk FCF pressure, ROI on CapEx China exposure, tariffs Apple runs the opposite play. It authorized a fresh $100 billion buyback and raised its dividend 4% to $0.27. The installed base sits above 2.5 billion active devices, feeding Services’ recurring flywheel. Gross margin holds near 46.9%.
Act now: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and Apple didn't make the cut. Grab the names FREE today.
The Next Reports Will Test Both Theses Tomorrow’s Alphabet release should show whether Cloud backlog keeps building and whether the CapEx surge is converting into incremental Cloud revenue rather than depreciation.
YouTube ads at 11% growth and a declining Google Network are the softer edges. Retail is leaning in: composite sentiment rose 18.04 points over 30 days.
For Apple on July 30, the question is whether iPhone 17 demand carries through the summer and whether Greater China’s rebound sticks. Services momentum matters most for the long thesis. Reddit sentiment reads bullish at 61, but prediction market signal is thin.
Why I Lean Alphabet Into This Earnings Report Alphabet looks better positioned. A $460 billion Cloud backlog is a contract-backed tailwind, and shares have actually pulled back 4.38% over the past month even as buzz built.
Apple looks pricier after a 20.47% run since its April 30 filing, and a 43 P/E leaves little cushion for a soft services line.
If you prize a fortress balance sheet and predictable capital returns, Apple still fits. If you want the more direct AI infrastructure bet with a catalyst tomorrow, Alphabet is the sharper setup for me.
The one scenario that would flip my view: a Cloud growth deceleration alongside another CapEx step-up. That combination would make me question the ROI narrative and send me back to Apple’s cash machine.
Act now: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and Apple didn't make the cut. Grab the names FREE today.
Google logo is displayed at Google's headquarters in New York City, U.S., July 1, 2026. REUTERS/Aleksandra Michalska/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab
LISBON, July 21 (Reuters) - Alphabet's Google (GOOGL.O), opens new tab has successfully connected a new transatlantic subsea cable to Sines in Portugal, it said on Tuesday, adding another U.S.-Europe data route as demand for cloud computing and artificial intelligence services surges.
Google's Nuvem, named after the Portuguese word for "cloud", links Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, with Sines, south of Lisbon, via Bermuda and the Azores.
The Reuters Inside Track newsletter is your essential guide during the World Cup. Sign up here.
The Nuvem cable system, which spans about 7,000 km (4,350 miles), comprises 16 fibre pairs with a total design capacity of around 384 terabits per second.
Giorgia Abeltino, head of government affairs and public policy for Google Cloud EMEA, said Nuvem was part of a wider vision for Portugal and Europe to invest in the strategic infrastructure underpinning the digital economy.
Subsea cables form the backbone of the world wide web, carrying more than 95% of global data traffic.
Two high-capacity subsea cables already link Portugal with other continents — the Google-owned Equiano cable that runs to South Africa via other African countries, and the EllaLink that runs to Brazil from Sines.
State Reform and Innovation Minister Goncalo Matias said Nuvem was part of a broader strategy to make Portugal a hub for data centres, AI and innovation, while bolstering Europe's digital resilience and sovereignty.
"Portugal is becoming what geography always invited us to be — the Atlantic gateway of Europe, the meeting point of three continents: Europe, Africa, and the Americas," he said at the cable landing ceremony.
Portugal's Atlantic coastline positions it as a prime hub for intercontinental subsea cables, helping to turn the country into a magnet for AI-driven data centres.
Lisbon also seeks to leverage abundant low-cost renewable energy from hydro, solar and wind sources, with more than 2.6 gigawatts of capacity under development.
The pipeline is led by the 1.2-GW Start Campus project in Sines, which is set to benefit from Microsoft's MSFT.O AI infrastructure investments, and is expected to grow substantially in the years ahead.
Reporting by Sergio Goncalves; Editing by Jan Harvey
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab
Alphabet faces heightened scrutiny from investors as a delay in the launch of a model key to its AI ambitions adds to worries over the payoff from massive data-center spending, months after raising expectations with a blockbuster quarter for cloud sales.
The artificial intelligence boom continues to reshape the technology landscape in 2026. Demand for AI computing power has surged so dramatically that even industry giants struggle to keep pace.
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG | GOOG Price Prediction), Google’s parent company, stands at the center of this shift. Its Google Cloud segment delivered standout results, posting roughly $22.8 billion in revenue in Q2 2026 — a 67% jump year-over-year — while the company’s overall revenue reached $116.91 billion, up 21.2%. Yet behind these gains lies a persistent challenge: compute capacity constraints that have forced tough choices.
The Compute Crunch Hits Home Google Cloud has become Alphabet’s primary growth engine. In Q1 2026, the division generated $20 billion in revenue, up 63% year-over-year, with a backlog that swelled to $462 billion. CEO Sundar Pichai noted on the earnings call that revenue would have been higher without compute limitations. Reports indicate the company even had to turn down portions of major customer requests, including capacity Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) sought earlier this year, as infrastructure struggled to match explosive AI demand.
This shortage isn’t abstract. Capital expenditures climbed sharply, with Alphabet raising full-year 2026 guidance to $180 billion to $190 billion to expand data centers, servers, and custom chips. Free cash flow felt the pressure in earlier quarters, yet the $462 billion backlog — more than 10 times 2025’s full-year cloud revenue of $43.2 billion — signals customers stand ready to spend once capacity opens up.
For investors, this highlights both opportunity and execution risk. Alphabet’s ability to convert that backlog into sustained high-teens or better revenue growth will separate it from peers facing similar bottlenecks.
Engineers project Frozen v2 could deliver six to 10 times more tokens per unit of power than current TPUs. Deployment is targeted for 2028 as a specialized complement rather than a TPU replacement, with smaller production volumes initially. The approach evolved from an earlier concept of embedding model weights; the v2 version focuses on architecture for greater flexibility across Gemini iterations.
Act now: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and Google didn't make the cut. Grab the names FREE today.
Imagine it like customizing the engine specifically for your most popular car model instead of using a versatile but less optimized one. By easing the load on existing infrastructure, Frozen v2 could unlock meaningful additional capacity without proportionally massive new builds. That directly addresses the shortages constraining Google Cloud today.
Efficiency as the Next Moat Smart investors recognize Alphabet’s full-stack advantage here. The company designs its own chips, software, and models, then runs them at scale in its cloud. Frozen v2 builds on that integration. While risks remain — including the chip’s compatibility with future Gemini versions and the 2028 timeline — success would improve margins and let Google Cloud capture more of that $462 billion backlog.
Alphabet trades at a forward P/E of less than 24x with strong free cash flow generation historically. Compare that to peers pouring similar sums into AI infrastructure with less vertical control. Google Cloud’s operating margin expanded to 32.9% in recent quarters from 17.8%, showing leverage as utilization rises.
Key Takeaway Frozen v2 won’t solve every capacity issue overnight, but it represents a pragmatic, high-impact step toward turning AI demand into reliable profits. For long-term shareholders, Alphabet’s ability to innovate its way through constraints — while generating $160 billion in trailing net income — reinforces its position as a core holding.
In the end, the companies that deliver efficient compute at scale will claim the biggest share of the AI prize.
Act now: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and Google didn't make the cut. Grab the names FREE today.
Alphabet (GOOGL +1.54%) (GOOG +1.56%) will announce its second-quarter financial results after the market closes on Wednesday, July 22. The stock is up 87% in the past year, but it's also down 14% from the record high it reached in May.
Should investors buy a few shares ahead of the earnings report? Most Wall Street analysts say the answer is "yes." Alphabet has a median target price of $440 per share, which implies 27% upside from the current share price of $346. However, investors should first acquaint themselves with the company.
Read on to learn more.
Image source: The Motley Fool.
Here's what Wall Street expects when Alphabet reports earnings on July 22 Alphabet reported impressive financial results in the first quarter. Revenue increased 22% to $109.8 billion, the fourth straight acceleration, driven by particularly strong sales growth in the cloud segment, which itself was due to insatiable demand for artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure.
Meanwhile, net income increased 82% to $5.11 per diluted share, but that figure was inflated by unrealized investment gains, primarily from Alphabet's stake in SpaceX. Operating earnings, which excludes those investment gains, increased 29% to $39.6 billion.
Alphabet didn't provide guidance for the second quarter. But the Wall Street consensus estimate says revenue will increase 21% to $116.8 billion and earnings (excluding the impact of unrealized investment gains) will increase 25% to $2.89 per diluted share.
Investors should review management's commentary about capital expenditures (capex), meaning what the company plans to spend on property, plants, and equipment this year. During the first-quarter earnings call, management said capex would total $180 billion to $190 billion in 2026, slightly higher than what it projected earlier in the year. Investors may get nervous if the company revises that figure even higher.
Today's Change
(
1.54
%) $
5.33
Current Price
$
352.10
The investment thesis for Alphabet centers on AI cloud services Alphabet's primary growth driver will be its cloud computing business. The company still trails Amazon and Microsoft, but it's steadily gaining market share because of the popularity of its Gemini models and custom AI accelerators called tensor processing units (TPUs). Google Cloud accounted for 14% of cloud infrastructure spending in Q1 2026, up from 12% in Q1 2025.
Gemini could become a major source of revenue. Using Google Cloud tools, developers can fine-tune and integrate the models into custom applications. For instance, Apple used Gemini infrastructure to develop the foundation models that power its upgraded Siri voice assistant. But Alphabet also offers prebuilt applications, such as the AI agent Gemini Spark.
TPUs could also become a major source of revenue. Earlier this year, Alphabet announced plans to create a new AI cloud company in partnership with private equity firm Blackstone. Unlike other cloud platforms, TPUs (rather than Nvidia GPUs) will power the infrastructure. Additionally, Alphabet recently started selling TPUs to customers for use in their own data centers.
Morgan Stanley analyst Brian Nowak estimates TPUs will account for 25% of Google Cloud revenue by 2028, up from about 5% today. In turn, he expects Google Cloud revenue to grow at 75% annually over that period, bringing Alphabet's companywide earnings per share to $19 in 2028. That implies annual growth of 15%, which more or less aligns with the Wall Street consensus.
In that context, Alphabet's current valuation of 26 times earnings looks quite reasonable. That's especially true because the company has another compelling growth opportunity in its autonomous driving business Waymo. Investors should feel comfortable buying a small position today, though I would keep some cash in reserve to capitalize on a post-earnings dip should the company's second-quarter results fail to impress.
Google’s parent company, Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL), is approaching its next earnings report – scheduled for Wednesday, July 22 – in a somewhat uncertain position.
On the one hand, GOOGL stock remained slightly in the green through the volatility in the previous 30 days, thus retaining the overall 11.43% year-to-date (YTD) rally to $351.37.
Google stock price YTD chart. Source: Google Similarly, the company is overall seen as in a strong position given its continued advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) technology, extensive partnership network, and the successful raising of more than $80 billion in an equity offer that, among others, involved Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A, BRK.B).
On the other hand, the firm recently suffered a significant setback when it delayed the launch of the Gemini 3.5 Pro AI model after it failed to meet internal expectations, while Nikkei research flagged Alphabet as one of big tech’s firms with an exceptionally high ‘hidden debt.’
Is Google a good stock to buy? The overall picture, however, remains bullish for Google stock as far as Wall Street analysts are concerned. Indeed, GOOGL equity is overall regarded as a ‘Strong Buy’ and, on average, expected to rise 24.37 to $437.79 in the next 12 months, per the data Finbold retrieved from TipRanks on July 21.
Google stock price 12-month target. Source: TipRanks Simultaneously, institutional experts to weigh in on Alphabet shares’ future in the second half of July proved unanimously bullish, with Wedbush’s Ygal Arounian offering a standout $671 forecast on July 15 and setting a new Street high.
Though the most recent price target – assigned by BMO’s Brian Pitz – was not as optimistic, it nonetheless featured a ‘Buy’ rating and an estimate upgrade from $435 to $455.
Could Google’s past success drive GOOGL stock lower? Meanwhile, Google’s own earnings history backs the notion the Wednesday filing will be bullish, considering it has beaten every earnings per share (EPS) forecast since the second quarter (Q2) of 2025, but outperformed the expectations by 93.56% in Q1, 2026.
Nonetheless, the scale of the previous beat could itself present some headwinds should Alphabet fail to match it, as, indeed, the company’s strong history and high investor hopes themselves pose a danger even if the financials are generally strong.
Google stock technical analysis Technical analysis (TA) of the stock, for its part, highlights both that there is a degree of uncertainty and that the odds are partially skewed toward Google stock being a buy ahead of the next earnings.
Data based on the last week and the last month of trading that Finbold retrieved from TradingView on July 21 generally paint a favorable picture of the equity. Still, the overall ‘Buy’ recommendation results from moving averages (MA) reading ‘Strong Buy’ and oscillators “Neutral.’
Google stock technical analysis. Source: TradingView The daily figures further muddy the waters as they indicate Alphabet shares are, at least in the short-term, a ‘Sell.’
SummaryI stayed constructive through the $84.75 billion raise, but I'm downgrading to hold now, and dilution or CapEx isn't the main reason.In my view, Alphabet's record profit in Q1 may have been driven by its stake in Anthropic (think equity markups), and that's the part I no longer want to ignore.Series H priced Anthropic at two and a half times Series G, so I expect an even bigger markup this print, given that Series H happened during the second quarter.I won't chase a $4, $5, or even $8 EPS number on Wednesday if other income is doing most of the work, and not the operating business.I'm not bearish on Alphabet, just concerned with the market's reaction to a headline EPS that I believe may be mostly driven by marks, not the ads/cloud/YouTube business. Kaspars Volonts/iStock via Getty Images
Alphabet's (GOOGL) (GOOG) most profitable quarter ever, reported about three months ago, mostly had nothing to do with selling search ads or cloud contracts.
Strange, right?
You probably remember that the headline (particularly on the
14.09K Followers
Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have no stock, option or similar derivative position in any of the companies mentioned, and no plans to initiate any such positions within the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.
I am not a registered investment adviser, broker, dealer, or tax professional. This article, including any comments or replies I post, reflects my personal opinions only and is provided for informational and educational purposes. Nothing I write is investment, legal, tax, or financial advice, or a personalized recommendation to buy, sell, hold, or short any security. My views may change without notice. Nothing I write is tailored to any reader’s objectives, financial situation, risk tolerance, or portfolio. Investing involves risk, including possible loss of principal. Readers should conduct their own research and consult a qualified professional before making investment decisions.
Seeking Alpha's Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. Any views or opinions expressed above may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank. Our analysts are third party authors that include both professional investors and individual investors who may not be licensed or certified by any institute or regulatory body.
In another one of this week’s tests of investor sentiment around artificial intelligence (AI) – and a tentpole one at that — Google’s parent company, Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL), reports second-quarter results after the close of U.S. markets on Wednesday, July 22.
This report could be an opportune time for short-term traders to consider Alphabet single-stock ETFs, such as the Direxion Daily GOOGL Bull 2X Shares (GGLL) and the Direxion Daily GOOGL Bear 1X Shares (GGLS). When preparing for Alphabet’s earnings with these funds, traders should note that GGLL attempts to deliver 200% of the daily returns of the internet stock, while the bearish GGLS seeks intraday performances corresponding with the inverse returns of Alphabet.
Although shares of Alphabet are up 12% year to date, they have slipped 3% over the past month — perhaps signaling a near-term burden of proof for the company as it heads into its earnings report. If that’s accurate, either GGLL or GGLS could be worth considering.
“Look for Google Cloud growth in both quarterly numbers and contracted future revenue (or backlog),” noted Malik Khan of Morningstar. “We think investors want certainty that the $460 billion backlog will convert to sales over the next two years, and also want to know what that trajectory will look like. Non-backlog factors, such as consumption-based spending and new commitments, will be important for understanding the health of the cloud business.”
More Alphabet Angles Without the benefit of a crystal ball, it’s difficult to determine which of the Direxion ETFs will come into focus following Alphabet’s earnings report. However, identifying the catalysts that could move the stock and these ETFs is relatively easy. That list starts with planned expenditures, particularly those related to AI.
“The firm should be at the top end of its $180 billion-$190 billion annual capital expenditure guidance. We think investors will key in on the annual capital expenditure for 2026, as well as any implied numbers it may provide for 2027 and their associated impacts on earnings,” added Khan.
For traders looking to approach Alphabet in bullish fashion, potentially deploying GGLL in the process, it’s worth noting that some market observers believe the stock remains one of the more attractively valued names in the mega-cap growth space.
“We see the stock as cheap and expect investors to appreciate the firm’s multi-vector monetization opportunity in AI throughout the year,” concluded Khan. “While there are concerns about Gemini falling behind at the frontier, we think Alphabet remains competitively well-positioned in the model layer and across the entire AI stack (chips, cloud infrastructure, and applications). We believe Alphabet can find monetization opportunities across its businesses, leveraging AI.”
For more news, information, and strategy, visit the Leveraged & Inverse Content Hub.
In the United States, Google’s (now Alphabet) Debug initiative has asked the federal government for permission to release up to 32 million sterilised male mosquitoes in California and Florida.
Male mosquitoes don’t bite or carry disease. The hope is these millions of male mosquitoes will mate with disease-carrying females, the eggs won’t hatch and mosquito numbers will fall.
Unsurprisingly, the US public has questions about the plan, including whether the release is safe and will work at scale, and what happens afterwards. Google/Alphabet’s plan is to release more than 16 million mozzies each year, for two years.
More than a decade ago, I led a project with Google’s life sciences division, (now known as Verily), to test a novel mosquito-control strategy in far north Queensland.
The results showed releasing specially bred male mosquitoes can dramatically suppress populations of the exotic, invasive mosquito species Aedes aegypti. This species is responsible for spreading deadly diseases such as dengue, Zika, chikungunya and yellow fever. Given the US is seriously considering this approach, our Australian experience offers important lessons.
Using mosquitoes against themselvesThis story begins in 2015, when we travelled to Silicon Valley to meet Verily scientists interested in developing a mosquito suppression technology. Their goals aligned closely with our own research, supported by an Australian National Health and Medical Research Council grant, to develop environmentally friendly tools for suppressing invasive mosquitoes.
The strategy focuses on male mosquitoes because they don’t bite, and female Aedes aegypti, which generally only mate once during their lifetime. If that mating event was incompatible – meaning the embryos don’t develop – it could not produce viable offspring. Our challenge was to make mating ineffective.
The approach we ultimately tested relied on wolbachia, a naturally occurring bacterium found in many insects. Some wolbachia strains create a form of reproductive incompatibility, as described above.
The theory is simple: release enough wolbachia-carrying males into a population and, over time, the population declines. The released males are also beautifully evolved to search and find the last females – their large bushy antennae are super-radars for this job.
North Queensland the perfect laboratoryThe Cassowary Coast in north Queensland provided ideal conditions for a large-scale trial of this approach. The region contained towns with abundant Aedes aegypti populations, while surrounding agricultural areas limited movement between communities. Equally important was the support of residents, local government and First Nations leaders.
Aedes aegypti likely arrived in Queensland in the late 1800s. It is distinct from our native mosquitoes because it is highly domesticated and feeds mainly on humans.
Before a single mosquito was released, the project team spent two years conducting field surveys and engaging with communities. We met with households, community organisations, First Nations leaders and local councils to discuss the technology and answer questions. The project, known as “Debug Innisfail”, ultimately received regulatory approval from multiple authorities.
Releasing three million male mosquitoesField surveys began in 2015, involving a collaborative team spanning Australian and US institutions. During a 20-week release period in 2018, around three million wolbachia-carrying male mosquitoes were released into three treatment towns. Meanwhile, control towns where no mosquitoes were released were monitored.
The release system itself reflected Verily’s engineering strengths. The company developed bespoke technologies, including machine-learning-based systems capable of separating male and female mosquitoes, crucial to ensuring only males were released.
The results were striking: when compared with control towns, mosquito populations in towns where mosquitoes were released began declining within four weeks. The findings, published in 2021, demonstrated incompatible male mosquito releases could achieve strong suppression.
In two treatment towns, suppression effects persisted into the following year. In one town, monitoring detected only a handful of Aedes aegypti 12 months later, corresponding to roughly 95% suppression.
A blood-fed strain of Aedes aegypti mosquito in a research lab in the US. Photograph: Jeff Miller/APWhat this means for the USThe Australian trials provide evidence-based answers to many of the concerns now being raised in the US.
First, ecological impacts are likely to be very small. Aedes aegypti is an invasive species in Australia and many other countries. Because it exclusively lives around humans and bites them, removing it from urban environments has minimal ecological consequences.
Second, the approach can work at scale. Although adult mosquitoes survive for only a few days, continuous releases of highly competitive males can substantially reduce populations across entire towns.
Third, benefits may persist after releases finish. This is because the suppression outcome does not necessarily disappear straight away, and can carry over into subsequent seasons. But that doesn’t mean mosquito biology can be ignored – success depends on factors such as local ecology, mosquito movement patterns and community participation. The technology alone is not enough.
A model for future mosquito controlPerhaps the most important lesson from the trials is the value of collaboration. This project brought together researchers from six universities and Verily. Combining scientific expertise with industrial-scale engineering accelerated the journey from laboratory concept to real-world field trial in an incredibly short time.
We are still working towards biological and mechanical approaches to efficiently separating male mosquitoes, which would have better utility in developing countries.
As Aedes aegypti expands its range and insecticides fail to suppress it, using the mosquito against itself as the biological control tool will become increasingly important.
The Queensland trials helped lay the groundwork for programs now under way in the US. And they are a reminder that when science, technology and communities work together, it is possible to solve problems that matter.
Technologický konglomerát Alphabet zveřejní své výsledky hospodaření za 2Q roku 2026 již zítra po uzavření amerických trhů. Trh vstupuje do reportu s vysokými očekáváními. Přinášíme přehled toho nejdůležitějšího, co bude stát za pozornost.
Výnosy potáhne reklama i nadále rostoucí YouTube Celkové výnosy Alphabetu by podle analytiků měly meziročně vzrůst o 21,3 % na 116,96 mld. USD. Mnohými dlouhodobě odepisovaný segment vyhledávač Google & ostatní by přitom měl zaznamenat růst o 17 %, YouTube by měl pokračovat ve dvojciferném tempu a jediným klesajícím segmentem by měl zůstat Google Network.
Odhady výnosů Alphabetu za 2Q 2026 dle segmentu
(mld. USD) Segment Konsensus 2Q 2025 Meziroční změna Google Advertising (Výnosy plynoucí z reklamy) 81,10 71,34 +14 % Vyhledávač Google & ostatní
63,30 54,19 +17 % YouTube reklamy 10,80 9,80 +10 % Google Network (AdMob, AdSense,..)
7,13 7,35 -3 % Google Subscriptions, Platforms, and Devices (Google Play, Fitbit, Google Nest, Google Pixel, YT Premium,..) 13,06 11,20 +17 % Google Cloud (Google Cloud Platform, Google Workspace,..) 22,39 13,62 +64 % Other Bets (Ostatní sázky - Waymo, Wing, Isomorphic Labs,..) 0,40 0,37 +8 % Klíčovým tématem zůstává Google Cloud Nejsledovanějším segmentem reportu bude bezpochyby Google Cloud, u kterého se očekává další zrychlení. Po 63% růstu v předchozím kvartálu počítá konsensus s +64 %, analytici z Wells Fargo jsou ještě optimističtější a čekají +72 %. Otázkou je, zda Alphabet i tentokrát překoná veškerá očekávání, tak jako se mu to podařilo v posledních dvou kvartálech.
Pozornost si zaslouží také dynamika objemu nezpracovaných zakázek (backlog). Ten se v minulém kvartálu, mimo jiné díky obřím kontraktům se společností Anthropic, téměř zdvojnásobil na více než 460 mld. USD.
Zisk na akcii Zajímavým bodem reportu bude zisk na akcii, u kterého se čeká výrazné překonání odhadů. Zatímco trh projektuje 2,95 USD na akcii, Bank of America očekává astronomických 8,38 USD. Rozdíl znovu pramení z přecenění investice do společnosti Anthropic. Je tak pravděpodobné, že podobný příběh uvidíme v reportu i u Amazonu.
Kapitálové výdaje nabírají na tempu Obrovské investice do výpočetní kapacity by měly nadále růst, jen za druhý kvartál se očekávají kapitálové výdaje zhruba 44 mld. USD, což představuje téměř polovinu toho, co společnost proinvestovala za celý rok 2025. Bank of America navíc čeká navýšení letošního výhledu kapitálových výdajů o zhruba 5 % na 190 až 200 mld. USD, a to kvůli vyšším cenám komponent.
Nejen investoři Alphabetu budou na konferenčním hovoru bedlivě sledovat komentář k výhledu kapitálových výdajů na příští rok, který má dle dřívějších informací znovu výrazně vzrůst. Stejná formulace přitom padla už loni a plánované výdaje se poté meziročně zdvojnásobily. Odvrácenou stranou rostoucích investic je tlak na volné hotovostní toky, které podle odhadů z úrovní přesahujících 70 mld. USD v posledních letech výrazně klesají, zatímco kapitálové výdaje se v letech 2026 a 2027 podle odhadů posouvají k úrovním kolem 187, resp. 257 mld. USD.
Sledovat se bude i Gemini 3.5 Pro Kromě finančních ukazatelů bude na konferenčním hovoru zajímavé sledovat i komentář k modelu Gemini 3.5 Pro, který údajně nabírá několikaměsíční zpoždění kvůli slabšímu výkonu v oblasti programování.
Představení společnosti Zajímá vás společnost Alphabet? Přečtěte si první a druhý díl podrobného představení společnosti.
Akcie Alphabet Akcie Alphabet třídy A (GOOGL) v předburzovní fázi posilují o 0,86 % na 355 USD. Akcie třídy C (GOOG) zaznamenávají růst o 0,95 % na 354,7 USD. S akciemi Alphabet mohou klienti Fio banky obchodovat také na RM-SYSTÉMu pod tickerem BAAGOOGL, kde se naposled zobchodovaly za 7 600 Kč.
