New York, February 17, 2026, 10:25 (EST) — Regular session
- Alphabet’s non-voting GOOG shares fell about 2.5% in early trade as investors sold megacap tech.
- Traders are still trying to pin down when heavy AI spending turns into steadier earnings.
- Focus turns to Wednesday’s Fed minutes and next week’s Nvidia results for signals on the AI cycle.
Alphabet’s non-voting Class C shares (GOOG) were down about 2.5% at $298.46 in morning trade, underperforming a weaker U.S. market as investors leaned away from big tech again. The tech-heavy Invesco QQQ ETF fell about 1.2% and the SPDR S&P 500 ETF was down about 0.7%.
The move matters because the market’s AI story is getting pickier. “Markets are stress testing business models to see how resilient they are to AI disruption,” said Axel Botte, head of market strategy at Ostrum Asset Management. (Reuters)
A pullback in the world’s biggest tech names has gathered pace this year as investors question whether the sector’s heavy spending on artificial intelligence can pay off fast enough to justify rich valuations. Alphabet has been part of that retreat, along with other mega-cap names tied to AI infrastructure and cloud. (Reuters)
U.S. stocks opened lower after the long weekend, with traders also watching headlines around U.S.-Iran nuclear talks that have fed a broader risk-off tone. The Nasdaq and S&P 500 both started the session in the red. (Reuters)
Alphabet itself helped put “AI bill” back on the front page earlier this month when it flagged $175 billion to $185 billion of capital spending in 2026, up from $91.45 billion in 2025. Capital spending, often called capex, is cash for long-life items like data centers, servers and networking gear. (Reuters)
On the same earnings stretch, Bernstein analyst Mark Shmulik summed up the scale problem for investors: “We’re quickly getting to north of a trillion dollars in combined 2026 investment across the mega caps,” he said. CEO Sundar Pichai also pointed to demand pressure, telling analysts the company had been “supply-constrained.” (Reuters)
Alphabet has tried to frame that spending as matched by traction. In a post tied to the company’s latest quarterly results, Pichai said Search revenue grew 17% and Cloud revenue rose 48%, while YouTube’s annual revenue topped $60 billion across ads and subscriptions. (Blog)
Alphabet’s drop came alongside declines in other AI-linked heavyweights. Microsoft was down about 1.2% and Nvidia fell about 1.7%, while Meta slipped about 1.1% in early trade.
But this is still a crowded trade, and the downside case is straightforward: if capex keeps outrunning revenue growth, or if rates move higher, investors can squeeze valuations further even without a fresh company-specific shock. A Reuters analysis last week described a market that is increasingly treating AI as a “minefield,” with some stocks hurt by fears of disruption as well as spending. (Reuters)
Regulation remains a second overhang for Google’s core ad business. The European Commission has sought feedback from advertisers by March 2 as it weighs concerns about Google’s Search ad auctions and pricing practices. (Reuters)
For the broader AI complex, traders are circling Nvidia’s quarterly results on Feb. 25 as a read on data-center demand and the spending cycle that feeds into Alphabet’s capex plans. (NVIDIA Investor Relations)
The nearer test is macro: the Federal Reserve is scheduled to release minutes from its Jan. 27–28 meeting on Feb. 18 at 2:00 p.m. ET, and rate expectations have been moving tech shares. (Federalreserve)
