Google Cloud revenue jumps 63% to $20B as AI demand surges

Google Cloud's Q1 revenue surged 63% to $20 billion, pushing its backlog to $462 billion as enterprises locked in multiyear AI contracts.

Google Cloud's revenue accelerated 63% year-over-year to $20 billion in the first quarter, with operating margin reaching 32.9%, as enterprises committed to multiyear AI infrastructure contracts that pushed the backlog to $462 billion.

"Our AI investments and full stack approach are driving performance across our business," Sundar Pichai, chief executive officer of Alphabet, said.

The backlog nearly tripled from $155 billion in the third quarter of 2025, reflecting the scale of committed spending on cloud and AI services. Google Cloud's operating income more than doubled from a year earlier, with the segment now contributing meaningfully to Alphabet's overall profitability.

Alphabet, with a market capitalization of $4.7 trillion, trades at 17 times forward earnings — the lowest multiple among the five largest US technology companies. The cloud acceleration supports the bull case that AI infrastructure spending will compound through the decade, with Alphabet planning $175 billion to $185 billion in capital expenditures for 2026.

The Q1 results extend a pattern of accelerating growth. Alphabet's revenue growth has picked up each quarter: 12 percent in Q1 2025, 13.8 percent in Q2, 16 percent in Q3, and 18 percent in Q4, before the cloud-driven jump in Q1 2026. The company crossed $400 billion in annual revenue for the first time in 2025, with full-year net income reaching $132.2 billion.

Google Cloud's Competitive Position

The cloud unit's 63 percent growth rate far exceeds the broader market. Amazon Web Services grew 28 percent in the same quarter, while Microsoft Azure has been trending in the mid-30 percent range. Google Cloud's $462 billion backlog provides revenue visibility extending years into the future, a key metric for assessing the durability of the cloud franchise.

The growth is driven by enterprises adopting Google's AI stack, including Gemini models and the Vertex AI platform. The Gemini App has grown to 750 million monthly active users, and Alphabet's AI infrastructure processes more than 10 billion tokens per minute through its direct API, according to company disclosures.

What It Means for Investors

Alphabet's cloud acceleration comes as the broader AI infrastructure buildout reshapes the technology sector. Nvidia reported $81.6 billion in revenue for its most recent quarter, while Broadcom's AI semiconductor revenue hit $8.4 billion, up 106 percent year-over-year. Google's in-house tensor processing units position it to capture more of the AI value chain as hyperscalers seek alternatives to Nvidia's graphics processors.

Alphabet generated $73.3 billion in free cash flow for the full year 2025 and has authorized a $70 billion share buyback program. The stock has returned 127 percent over the past year, with a consensus analyst target of $376, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Prediction markets price a 95.7 percent probability that Alphabet beats earnings expectations when it reports next quarter.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.