
Alphabet (GOOGL) stock has slipped about 8% over the past three months, even as revenue growth accelerated to 24% year over year in the second quarter of 2026. What changed is the bill. Capital spending guidance for full year 2026 has been raised to $195 billion to $205 billion, and free cash flow turned negative in the quarter. The bull case points to the cloud segment for relief, but Cloud’s expanding margins cannot shoulder a company-wide capital bill on their own.













