Sundar Pichai says Google Cloud is "more than doubling our acquisition velocity year over year"

An investment analysis of Alphabet highlights CEO Sundar Pichai’s comment about Google Cloud gaining customers at a much faster pace than a year earlier. The remark came after Alphabet reported second-quarter cloud revenue of $24.8 billion, up 82%, and earnings per share of $9.11, above analyst estimates. The article notes Alphabet guided 2026 capital spending to $175 billion–$185 billion, which pushed quarterly free cash flow to negative $5.9 billion and led to a suspended buyback and higher debt, leaving investors cautious despite strong results. Shares trade around $342.88, up 9.41% year to date, with a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 16, the lowest among large tech peers. The report examines whether the stock can reach $500 by 2027, citing cloud growth, TPU revenue, and antitrust cases as key factors.