Search & fact check with cited sources for What key financial results did Alphabet report in its second quarter of 2026, including its revised full year capex forecast, Google Cloud growth, and the broader context of Big Tech's AI infrastructure spending race?

Google Cloud Growth

Google Cloud was the standout segment. Cloud revenue surged 82% year-over-year to $24.8 billion, fueled by demand for AI infrastructure, enterprise AI solutions, and Gemini-related workloads . This handily beat the 63–65% growth that analysts had expected .

Segment Detail

Revised Full-Year 2026 Capex Forecast

• New guidance: Alphabet raised its 2026 capital expenditure forecast to $195 billion–$205 billion, up from the $180 billion–$190 billion range set in April . At the high end, this is more than double the previous year's capex.
• Context: This is the second upward revision of the year. Alphabet originally guided to $175 billion–$185 billion in February , then raised to $180–190 billion in April , and again to $195–205 billion in July.
• Q2 capex run rate: First-quarter capex was $35.7 billion (up 107% YoY) ; the new full-year range implies spending must accelerate further in the second half.

Broader Context: Big Tech's AI Infrastructure Spending Race

Alphabet's capex surge is part of a coordinated, unprecedented investment cycle across the largest US hyperscalers. Combined 2026 capital spending for Amazon, Microsoft, Alphabet, and Meta is guiding to approximately $725 billion, up roughly 77% from ~$410 billion in 2025 . The rough breakdown:

• Amazon: ~$200 billion
• Microsoft: ~$190 billion
• Alphabet: $195–205 billion (revised upward)
• Meta: ~$115–135 billion

Goldman Sachs expects a cumulative $5.3 trillion in capex from these four companies across 2025–2030 . Wedbush analyst Dan Ives described the dynamic as "an arms race" — any company that cuts back risks falling behind in compute power and AI partnerships . Morgan Stanley has pegged the total AI-related infrastructure spend at more than $1 trillion in the next year alone .

Key risk flagged by analysts: Aggregate hyperscaler free cash flow may turn negative by Q3 2026, as capex is growing at roughly 70% annually against only ~23% cash flow growth . Alphabet's own free cash flow swing to negative $5.9 billion in Q2 is an early signal of this tension.