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GOOG
GOOGL
Alphabet Inc.

Latest update

$354

Updated: Jul 16, 2026, 8:48 PM UTC

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Metrics

Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) - Q1 2026 Performance and Market Standing

Alphabet (GOOGL) reported Q1 2026 revenue of $109.9B, marking a healthy 21.8% year-over-year growth, despite a slight quarterly dip. Net income surged by 81.2% year-over-year to $62.6B, showcasing robust profitability with operating margins at 36.1% and a profit margin of 37.9%. The company maintains a strong balance sheet with light debt, excellent debt service coverage (EBITDA $161.32B, Op cash $174.35B), and a current ratio of 1.9. Share count is shrinking, indicating shareholder-friendly capital allocation. However, free cash flow decreased by 46.6% year-over-year to $10.1B, and the stock's valuation (P/E TTM 27.1x, NTM 24.3x) is considered stretched compared to historical valuations, especially given the current cash return of 0.6%.

Growth pace
How fast the underlying business is moving, quarter by quarter. Hover any tile for the plain-English meaning.

Revenue

The total dollars the company billed customers. When this number grows quarter after quarter, the business is finding more demand.

quarterly

Latest

$109.9B

Q1 2026

The most recent reported figure, in the company's own currency and reporting cadence.

QoQ

-3.5%

vs Q4 2025

How much this quarter grew compared to last quarter. Useful for spotting acceleration or slowdown in real time.

YoY

+21.8%

vs Q1 2025

How much this quarter grew compared to the same quarter one year ago. Strips out seasonality — a slow holiday quarter looks worse QoQ but normal YoY.

CAGR

insufficient history

The smooth yearly growth rate that gets you from the starting value to the current value. A 100% CAGR over 3 years means the business tripled, on average, each year.

Net income

What's left from revenue after paying every cost — employees, materials, taxes, interest. Sometimes called profit or 'the bottom line.'

quarterly

Latest

$62.6B

Q1 2026

The most recent reported figure, in the company's own currency and reporting cadence.

QoQ

+81.6%

vs Q4 2025

How much this quarter grew compared to last quarter. Useful for spotting acceleration or slowdown in real time.

YoY

+81.2%

vs Q1 2025

How much this quarter grew compared to the same quarter one year ago. Strips out seasonality — a slow holiday quarter looks worse QoQ but normal YoY.

CAGR

insufficient history

The smooth yearly growth rate that gets you from the starting value to the current value. A 100% CAGR over 3 years means the business tripled, on average, each year.

Free cash flow

The cash actually left in the bank after the company has paid for everything and reinvested in itself. Harder to fake than net income.

quarterly

Latest

$10.1B

Q1 2026

The most recent reported figure, in the company's own currency and reporting cadence.

QoQ

-58.8%

vs Q4 2025

How much this quarter grew compared to last quarter. Useful for spotting acceleration or slowdown in real time.

YoY

-46.6%

vs Q1 2025

How much this quarter grew compared to the same quarter one year ago. Strips out seasonality — a slow holiday quarter looks worse QoQ but normal YoY.

CAGR

insufficient history

The smooth yearly growth rate that gets you from the starting value to the current value. A 100% CAGR over 3 years means the business tripled, on average, each year.

Quarterly revenue, net income & free cash flow
Bars show what the company actually reported each quarter. The growth chart below turns these into the QoQ / YoY pace the rest of this page uses.
Annual growth rate (YoY)
Year-over-year change in full-year totals. Strips out quarterly noise and seasonality so the multi-year trend is visible — not just the last 12 months.
Compound annual growth (CAGR)
The smooth yearly growth rate across each window. The "start → end" line shows the dollar value at the beginning and end of the window.
Metric3 yr2 yr1 yr
Revenue
+21.8%
$90.2B$109.9B
Net income
+81.2%
$34.5B$62.6B
Free cash flow
-46.6%
$19B$10.1B
Valuation — P/E

P/E TTM

27.1×

Trailing twelve months. Today's price divided by the last year of actual earnings.

P/E NTM

24.3×

Next twelve months. Today's price divided by what analysts expect the company to earn over the coming year.

Balance sheet & valuation
The five numbers that decide whether the growth above is safe, sustainable, and reasonably priced. Descriptions on every tile — hover or scroll to read.

Profitability

Strong

Operating margin (and the wider return profile) tells you how efficiently each dollar of sales becomes profit. High and rising = pricing power; low or falling = the business is grinding.

Share count

Shrinking

Are the buybacks outrunning the stock-based comp? A shrinking share count means every existing share owns a bigger slice of future earnings.

Debt load

Light

Total debt against cash and earnings power (EBITDA). Light debt leaves room to invest and weather downturns; heavy debt shrinks the margin for error.

Debt service

Strong

Whether the cash the business generates easily covers its interest and loan payments. Strong here = no forced selling in a bad year.

Cash return at today's price

0.6%

Free cash flow divided by market cap — the cash yield you're getting for the price you pay. Above ~6% is rich, below ~3% is thin. P/E shown when the yield is too small to be useful.

What stands out
  • Strong revenue growth and exceptional profitability driven by increased efficiency and pricing power.
  • Robust balance sheet with minimal debt and ample cash generation to cover obligations.
  • Shareholder-friendly actions reflected in a shrinking share count and a growing dividend.
  • Free cash flow has seen a significant year-over-year decline, which warrants attention.
  • Current valuation metrics suggest the stock price may have outpaced recent business growth.

Thesis

Why this read

Alphabet's underlying business strength and strategic positioning in AI remain compelling. However, the current technical setup shows renewed selling pressure, with price dipping below short-term averages and volume contracting. The pending earnings report in six days adds a significant layer of event risk. While the overall cycle remains in accumulation, a tactical 'WAIT' is appropriate due to short-term weakness and the looming earnings catalyst, allowing time to assess post-earnings performance before committing capital.

Short-term thesis

Mixed61% conviction+1 ptsv1
Size small or stay away

The risk sleeve is too fragile to support aggressive exposure.

Long-term exposure

Maybe own

There is a case here, but one sleeve still needs work.

Entry window

Wait

The stock is currently experiencing a pullback, trading below short-term averages. While the longer-term trend remains constructive, there's near-term pressure. Given the upcoming earnings report and the recent price action, it's prudent to wait for more clarity. Strong support is anticipated around $338, which aligns with key moving averages.

Risk check

Fragile

The downside can widen quickly if this setup goes wrong.

Alignment

Mixed

Neither horizon fully wins, so size and patience matter.

What supports it

  • Sales and cash still support a long hold.
  • Balance sheet gives the thesis room to breathe.
  • Debt service still looks controlled against cash generation.
  • Margins and returns still support the long hold.

What limits it

  • This needs smaller size or more patience.
  • Price already asks a lot from the business.
  • One sleeve still needs more evidence.
  • The stock is lagging the broad market by 5.1 points over the past month.

Long-term thesis

Alphabet's unique vertical integration of custom silicon (TPU) with AI models and applications is a foundational play on the accelerating demand for AI inference, driving a significant cost advantage that will lead to superior earnings growth.

84opportunity75% thesis conf
Crossing Chasm5y horizon

Bottleneck Role

Low-cost AI inference provider via custom silicon. Alphabet controls the entire stack from chip design to model deployment, creating a moat against competitors reliant on third-party hardware.

Consensus Blind Spot

The market is underestimating the magnitude of margin expansion and competitive advantage derived from Alphabet's custom silicon (TPU) strategy, focusing too much on near-term competitive threats in search rather than the long-term AI moat.

Demand Gap

The demand for efficient, scalable, and cost-effective AI inference is outstripping current supply, creating a bottleneck that Alphabet's vertically integrated TPU architecture is uniquely positioned to address.

Demand to Equity Scenarios

Bear60% conf

Slower-than-anticipated AI adoption or increased competitive pressure from other chip/cloud providers.

Demand

-15%

Earnings

-10%

Equity implication

-20%

Reduced TPU utilization, higher cost-per-inference, and slower growth in AI-driven advertising/cloud services.

Base80% conf

Steady growth in AI-powered search and broader enterprise AI adoption, with Alphabet maintaining its cost efficiency advantage.

Demand

+25%

Earnings

+15%

Equity implication

+25%

Increased TPU utilization, sustained cost-per-inference improvements, and moderate expansion in AI-driven margins.

Bull70% conf

Explosive growth in AI applications across all segments, with Alphabet's TPU architecture becoming the standard for efficient inference, leading to significant market share gains.

Demand

+50%

Earnings

+30%

Equity implication

+50%

Maximized TPU utilization, dramatic reduction in cost-per-inference, and rapid margin expansion across Google Services and Cloud.

Dependency Chain

  1. 1Accelerating AI search intent and broader AI application demand
  2. 2Increased utilization of Alphabet's custom TPU hardware
  3. 3Lower cost-per-query/inference via TPU efficiency
  4. 4Significant margin expansion and operating leverage for Alphabet
  5. 5Upward earnings revisions and re-pricing of Alphabet's equity relative to less integrated peers

Repricing Triggers

  • Better-than-expected AI-driven revenue growth and margin expansion in earnings reports.
  • Announcements of new TPU generations or significant efficiency breakthroughs.
  • Increased visibility into cost savings from internal AI inference workloads.
  • Analyst upgrades explicitly citing the TPU advantage and margin expansion.
  • Significant market share gains in AI-powered cloud services.

Must be true

  • Alphabet continues to innovate and maintain a lead in custom AI silicon development (TPUs).
  • AI adoption continues at an accelerated pace, particularly in search and enterprise applications.
  • Alphabet's integrated approach yields a significant and sustainable cost advantage over competitors.
  • The market eventually reprices Alphabet's stock based on its long-term AI profit potential rather than solely on traditional valuations.

Thesis broken if

  • Evidence of competitor AI chips matching or exceeding TPU performance/efficiency at a similar cost.
  • Slowdown in AI-driven revenue growth or a lack of margin expansion despite increased AI adoption.
  • Significant increase in competitive pressure in cloud AI services eroding market share.
  • Regulatory actions that limit Alphabet's ability to leverage its vertical integration.
  • Continued sharp declines in free cash flow without clear explanations for strategic re-investment.

History

What changed

Since the previous run · 1 month ago
Prior call was neutral

Signal

BUYBUY

Conviction

0.7%60%+59 pts

Long term

Maybe ownMaybe own

Stock

$363.31$354.46-2.4%

Added since last run

8
  • Structural profitability remains high, demonstrating pricing power.
  • Strong demand for AI solutions driving revenue growth.
  • Shareholder returns are improving through dividends and share buybacks.
  • Company fundamentals (balance sheet, debt service) are exceptionally strong.
  • Significant year-over-year decline in free cash flow.
  • Imminent earnings event introduces short-term volatility and risk.
  • Stock is trading below short-term averages on increasing volume, suggesting selling pressure.
  • Current valuation appears stretched relative to free cash flow generation and historical levels.

No longer flagged

0

Nothing dropped this run

Model's reflection on the prior call

Correct. The previous call to wait was appropriate as the stock continued its floor-finding process, dropping by 4.44% today following the 3.47% decline since the prior update. The stock has indeed been digesting its recent run.

Analysis timeline
3 runs

Jul 16, 2026

Latest

Updated Jul 16, 2026, 8:48 PM UTC

WeeklyWAIT
Long termWATCH
Confidence60% · Medium

Price at review

$354

The stock is currently experiencing a pullback, trading below short-term averages. While the longer-term trend remains constructive, there's near-term pressure. Given the upcoming earnings report and the recent price action, it's prudent to wait for more clarity. Strong support is anticipated around $338, which aligns with key moving averages.

Jun 9, 2026

Updated Jun 9, 2026, 1:15 PM UTC

WeeklyWAIT
Long termWATCH
Confidence70% · Medium

Price at review

$363

The stock is currently searching for a stable base after a sharp rejection from recent highs.

Jun 2, 2026

Updated Jun 2, 2026, 9:03 AM UTC

WeeklyWAIT
Long termWATCH
Confidence80% · High

Price at review

$376

The stock is currently cooling off after a strong run, searching for a floor near recent averages.