Alphabet's Q4 earnings surpassed Wall Street estimates with strong revenue and net income growth driven by AI-powered product innovation and cloud services. Despite initial investor concerns over a near doubling of capital expenditure projections for 2026, confidence rebounded as executives highlighted accelerating AI monetization and significant user growth on the Gemini AI platform. Google Cloud's 48% revenue surge and increasing margins, along with robust performance in search and YouTube advertising, underpinned the recovery in Alphabet's stock price during after-hours trading.