ALPHABET A (+) : Corporate Contact: AI Demand Supports Continued Investment & Growth

Research evidence excerpt

ALPHABET A (+) : Corporate Contact: AI Demand Supports Continued Investment & Growth

Refinitiv

Key Takeaways

CapEx and depreciation

We discussed how many gigawatts the company can realistically absorb, and while GOOGL did not provide

a specific figure, they emphasized that they are investing aggressively to bring capacity online as quickly

as possible. That said, they acknowledged that meaningful constraints remain across the broader supply

chain today.

On the timing of when depreciation begins to flow through the P&L, GOOGL pointed to the company’s

disclosed assets not yet in service balance in its filings, noting that depreciation only begins once those

assets are placed in service. GOOGL did not provide a specific timeline, in terms of months, for when assets

currently not yet in service are expected to become operational. They also noted that 60% of infrastructure

spend is allocated to servers, which are typically installed toward the end of the data center build process

once the facility is ready.

TPU sales

Selling TPUs to third parties should not be interpreted as a sign of slowing demand, emphasizing that

demand continues to outpace supply. Rather, Alphabet is making TPUs available to a select group of

customers based on specific use cases, with GOOGL suggesting the interest reflects the strong

performance and competitiveness of its TPU offering.

Backlog

GOOGL noted that historically, 50-55% of backlog has converted to revenue within 24 months. While the

majority of backlog today continues to consist of traditional GCP contracts, TPU hardware sales are also

included. GOOGL indicated that some TPU-related revenue may be recognized in 2026, though the vast

majority is expected to be recognized in 2027 and can be lumpy.

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