New York, February 17, 2026, 05:36 (EST) — Premarket
- Alphabet (GOOGL) slipped roughly 0.6% in premarket trading, with shares coming off a four-day market break.
- Investors are casting doubt on the payoff from AI spending, pushing big tech valuations lower.
- Fed minutes land this week, with Alphabet CFO set to speak on March 3.
Alphabet’s Class A shares slipped 0.6% to $303.82 in premarket action Tuesday, following a Friday close of $305.72.
This shift comes as investors come back to a market still split over artificial intelligence valuations. Alphabet’s lost about $87.96 billion in market value since 2026 began, putting it near $3.7 trillion at Friday’s close. Microsoft is down some $613 billion, Amazon about $343 billion.
Traders weren’t ready to take big bets before the bell. S&P 500 e-minis slipped roughly 0.5% early Tuesday, with eyes on U.S.-Iran nuclear negotiations and upcoming Federal Reserve minutes, plus a slate of other data still ahead this week.
With U.S. stock markets shut Monday for Presidents Day, investors are bracing for Tuesday’s backlog and sharpening focus on just how much strain Big Tech’s planned outlays will put on the market.
Alphabet hasn’t released fresh headlines over the past few days, but the stock remains hooked on a single question: how fast can the company convert its expensive AI infrastructure into real profit—actual earnings, not just more usage.
Alphabet’s latest SEC filing puts 2026 capital spending at $175 billion to $185 billion — a figure that almost doubles the $91.45 billion set for 2025. That covers data centers, servers, networking gear and the rest. CEO Sundar Pichai pointed to AI and infrastructure investments as fueling “revenue and growth across the board.” The board also signed off on a $0.21 quarterly dividend, payable March 16 to shareholders of record as of March 9. SEC
Gil Luria at D.A. Davidson flagged the company’s cloud growth as “importantly higher” than Microsoft Azure’s—a first in years. That gives Alphabet added cover for its increased spending, he said. Reuters
Traders are zeroed in on Alphabet’s ability to maintain robust ad growth, even as it ramps up spending on compute. Google Cloud remains under the microscope as well, with investors stacking it up against Amazon Web Services and Microsoft on both the growth and profit fronts.
There’s risk on the flip side, too. Should ad demand weaken, or if heavy AI investment drags free cash flow below forecasts, the stock might have a tough time rebounding—regulators are still hovering over Google’s core search and ad arms.
The next date to watch is March 3. That’s when CFO Anat Ashkenazi takes the stage at Morgan Stanley’s Technology, Media & Telecom Conference, a venue where investors are likely to press her for specifics on capital spending plans and how the company aims to restore margins.
