Alphabet reports third-quarter 2026 results after the market close on Wednesday, October 28, the same day as Microsoft and the Federal Reserve’s rate decision. It’s one of the headline reports in a week stacked with more than two dozen S&P 100 companies — see the full calendar on our Corporate Earnings This Week tracker.

What to Watch

Analyst estimates for Alphabet’s EPS cluster between $2.94 and $3.03, up from $2.87 a year earlier, on consensus revenue near $127.8 billion — roughly 25% growth from $102.35 billion in the prior-year quarter. The headline number to watch is Google Cloud: revenue grew 82% year over year to $24.8 billion last quarter, with operating income jumping to $8.8 billion from $2.8 billion, and some analysts are looking for growth near 80% again as a sign that AI spending is converting into actual cloud sales rather than just capex. That spending is the other side of the story — Alphabet’s own capital expenditures hit $44.9 billion last quarter, above its $39.1 billion of operating cash flow and producing negative free cash flow of $5.9 billion, and full-year 2026 capex guidance was raised to a range of $195 billion to $205 billion from $180 billion to $190 billion. Shares have pulled back from a 52-week high of $408.61, falling as low as $322 this week, which gives the report added importance as a test of whether the AI-spending story still has the market’s confidence.

Analyst Estimates and Price Targets

The Street consensus rating remains Buy to Strong Buy, with average price targets clustering between roughly $425 and $430 across different trackers — implying 30%-plus upside from current levels. Citizens JMP trimmed its target to $450 from $515 this week while keeping an Outperform-equivalent rating, and Needham & Company reiterated a Buy with a $450 target on October 8, with Evercore also at $450 (Outperform). The broad clustering of targets in the $445-$450 range, even after this week’s pullback, suggests analysts see the recent weakness as sentiment-driven rather than a change in the underlying cloud and AI growth thesis.

Why It Matters

Alphabet’s report lands the same afternoon as Microsoft’s own fiscal Q1 results and just hours before the Federal Reserve’s Wednesday rate decision, making October 28 the single busiest day of this earnings season. Google Cloud’s growth rate will be read alongside Microsoft’s Azure guidance and this week’s Verizon-AWS infrastructure deal as a broader referendum on whether AI infrastructure spending across the hyperscalers is starting to show up in revenue, or just in capex budgets.

For the full recap once results are out, and for coverage of other companies reporting this week, see our Earnings coverage, the GOOGL Stock Fact Sheet, and the Stock Fact Sheets hub.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice. Analyst estimates and price targets are subject to change; consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions.

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