Alphabet Q3 Earnings Preview: Search Ads, Google Cloud Growth and Capex Guidance in Focus

Alphabet is expected to report its third quarter (Q3) 2025 earnings after the market closes on Wednesday, 29 October 2025.

Here are consensus expectations from Bloomberg for Alphabet's Q3 earnings:

• Revenue: $99.75 billion

• EPS: $2.29

• Google Services: $84.56 billion

• Google Cloud: $14.72 billion

Previous Quarter Review

• Total revenue of $96.43 billion for second quarter vs. expected $94 billion

• Earnings per share (EPS) of $2.31, beating market forecasts of $2.18

• Google's advertising revenue, which represents about three-quarters of the tech major's overall sales, rose 10.4% to $71.34 billion in the second quarter, beating expectations for $69.47 billion

• Revenue growth was driven by Google Cloud's sales, which surged nearly 32%, well above estimates for a 26.5% increase

  

As part of its second quarter earnings, the company increased its forecast for capital expenditures in 2025 to $85 billion due to “strong and growing demand for our Cloud products and services” as it continues to expand infrastructure to power more AI services that use its cloud technology. That’s up from the $75 billion projection that Google provided in February, which was already above the $58.84 billion that Wall Street expected at the time.

Google Search Volume in Focus Amid ChatGPT Tie-Ups

Google's search volume might again be pressured by ChatGPT's steady growth in users and time spent. Though the former's search ad share of commercial queries has been insulated from ChatGPT's share in consumer search queries, we believe the latter's recent partnerships with e-commerce merchants like Shopify, Etsy and Walmart for direct purchases might portend an AI-agent rollout that limits Google's traffic-acquisition role for online merchants. Search advertising revenue (with AI overview, AI mode integration) is expected to rise 10%, according to Bloomberg analyst.

Google Cloud Growth Seen Around 30%, Fueled by Acceleration in AI-Driven Workloads

Google Cloud's growth may stay above 30% in 3Q, driven by the growing contribution of AI workloads. The backlog orders of Google Cloud will reach $110 billion, a 15% quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) increase , as Alphabet pursues a $100 billion+ annual recurring revenue (ARR) target by 2027.

Investors will examine Alphabet's progress in turning AI features like Gemini Ultra and AI Overviews (now in over 30% of searches) into revenue, with expectations of a 50% year-on-year (YoY) jump to over $2 billion.

Capex Guidance of $85 Billion May Rise as AI Infrastructure Build-Out Continues

Due to the impact of AI data centers on margins and cash, the full-year expenditure guidance for 2025 is expected to be $88 – $92 billion (up from $85 billion).