Internet: It’s a Wrap: Alphabet Shines in 1Q26

Research evidence excerpt

Internet: It’s a Wrap: Alphabet Shines in 1Q26

Deutsche Bank

Research

North America Industry Date

Internet Internet 18 May 2026

It’s a Wrap: Alphabet Shines in 1Q26

Benjamin Black, CFA

1Q26 reinforced a broadly constructive setup across Internet: growth improved Research Analyst

across several major subsectors, AI moved further from narrative to measurable +1-212-250-9218

operating impact, and large platforms continued to show meaningful scale

advantages. That said, investor rewards were uneven and increasingly tied to Kunal Madhukar, CFA

Research Analyst whether AI investment is translating into visible revenue acceleration, margin +1-212-250-9357

leverage, or backlog visibility.

Benjamin Hui, Esq.

The clearest winners were companies where growth and AI monetization are Research Associate

already tangible. GOOG benefited from strength in Search, accelerating Google +1-212-250-2064

Cloud growth, and a sharp step-up in Cloud backlog, supporting the view that AI

is reinforcing both advertising and infrastructure demand. AMZN showed broad- Jeff Seiner, CFA

Research Associate

based strength across retail, advertising, and AWS, with AI increasingly +1-212-250-8153

embedded across shopping, logistics, and cloud infrastructure. UBER and DASH

continued to compound Gross Bookings at scale, supported by multi-vertical Raymond Wong

ecosystems, subscription-led frequency, and AI-driven efficiency. Research Associate

+1-212-250-2060

By contrast, the market was less forgiving where investment intensity rose faster

than near-term monetization visibility. META delivered strong advertising

momentum and continued share gains, but higher capex and longer-dated AI

spending weighed on investor sentiment. SPOT remained fundamentally healthy,