Alphabet Q3 earnings beat Wall Street expectations

Financial Performance - Alphabet Q3 revenue exceeded estimates, reaching $10235 billion [1] - YouTube ad revenue slightly better than expected, and overall Google ad revenue significantly better than expected at $7418 billion [2] - EPS beat expectations at $287 [2] - Google Cloud revenue at $1516 billion, exceeding the street's expectation of $1475 billion [6] Strategic Initiatives & Investments - Capex spend continues to ramp up to nearly $24 billion [1] - Full year capex expected to be $91 to $93 billion, up from the previously anticipated $85 billion, reflecting investment in AI data centers [6] - Google is seen as a clear AI winner in both advertising and Google Cloud Platform (GCP) [8] Market Dynamics & Competitive Landscape - Shares are up 6% in after-hours trading following the earnings release [3][7] - The stock had already rallied about 40% year-to-date heading into the report [5][7] - Analysts are super bullish, with some having price targets up to $300 a share [4] - Open AI poses a long-term risk to Google's core search business, but Google's AI overviews are driving increased search activity [4][10][11] - Larger platforms like Google, Meta, and Amazon are expected to continue to see good momentum in the digital ad market [16]