Alphabet Shatters Q1 Earnings Expectations with $110B Revenue and 81% Profit Surge
Alphabet delivered a staggering performance in the first quarter of 2026, reporting a revenue of $109.9 billion, a 22% increase year-over-year. The net income saw an astounding surge of 81% to $62.6 billion. The results, announced on April 29, significantly exceeded Wall Street expectations, underscoring the company’s dominance in the AI infrastructure race.
Google Cloud emerged as the star performer, with its revenue soaring by 63% to reach a milestone of $20.03 billion. CEO Sundar Pichai attributed this success to enterprise AI solutions, which have become the primary growth driver for Cloud for the first time. The company’s cloud backlog nearly doubled quarter-over-quarter to an unprecedented $460 billion, signaling a massive future contracted revenue.
Despite concerns about AI cannibalization, Google Search also posted a 19% revenue growth with queries hitting all-time highs. The company’s Gemini Enterprise product saw a 40% quarter-over-quarter growth in paid monthly active users. Additionally, total paid subscriptions across all services reached a record 350 million.
Alphabet raised its 2026 capital expenditure guidance to $180-190 billion, up from the previous $175-185 billion estimate. CFO Anat Ashkenazi indicated that the 2027 spending will “significantly increase” as the company continues its aggressive AI infrastructure buildout. The autonomous vehicle division, Waymo, surpassed 500,000 fully autonomous rides per week during the quarter.
Source: CNBC