Google Cloud revenue surges 82% to a record high, AI infrastructure capex raised again—Samsung Bloomberg Global Semiconductors ETF (3132 HK) offers one-click exposure to the global semiconductor value chain

On July 22, US time, $Alphabet-C (GOOG.US)$ parent company Alphabet released its Q2 2026 earnings report, delivering results that surprised the market. Total quarterly revenue reached $119.8 billion, up 24% year-over-year, marking the 12th consecutive quarter of double-digit growth; GAAP EPS came in at $9.11, significantly beating market expectations.[1]

However, Alphabet's stock price fell nearly 4% in after-hours trading following its earnings release. Despite crushing earnings expectations, the stock declined rather than rose, highlighting the most critical investment thesis in today’s AI computing infrastructure sector.

Google Cloud: Record-breaking 82% growth rate—AI demand has never been stronger

The standout highlight of this quarter’s earnings was undoubtedly Google Cloud. Cloud revenue surged 82% year-over-year to $24.8 billion, significantly surpassing market expectations of $22.5 billion. Even more noteworthy, Google Cloud’s backlog of remaining performance obligations climbed to $514 billion, up from $460 billion last quarter, hitting a new record and reflecting exceptionally strong long-term enterprise demand for AI infrastructure. Google Cloud’s operating profit also rose to $8.8 billion, demonstrating concurrent improvement in profitability.[1]

Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai stated during the earnings call that Gemini Enterprise has already been adopted by nearly 90% of Fortune 100 companies; the Gemini app’s monthly active users have grown to 950 million, capable of processing 22 billion API tokens per minute. AI is transitioning from a 'concept' to 'large-scale commercialization.'

Capital expenditures raised again: The AI infrastructure race is far from over

However, investor concerns also stem from AI. Alphabet further raised its full-year 2026 capital expenditure guidance from last quarter’s $180–190 billion to $195–205 billion. Capital expenditures this quarter reached $44.9 billion, resulting in free cash flow of negative $5.855 billion—the first time in the company’s history it has reported negative free cash flow.[1]

CFO Anat Ashkenazi stated bluntly on the earnings call: 'We remain in a supply-constrained environment, with very strong demand from both external cloud customers and internal operations.' Approximately 60% of infrastructure investments are allocated to AI servers, while 40% go toward data centers and networking equipment. Google will continue investing as long as returns remain attractive.

Alphabet’s increased capital expenditure reflects sustained investment in AI infrastructure by major global tech firms. Every dollar spent on infrastructure could translate into demand for GPUs (Graphics Processing Units), CPUs (Central Processing Units), HBM (High Bandwidth Memory), switch chips, and semiconductor equipment.

3132 HK: Diversified exposure across the entire AI computing infrastructure value chain

Facing tech giants’ 'the more they earn, the more they burn' AI infrastructure race, betting on a single company or a single segment carries significant risk.

$Samsung Bloomberg Global Semiconductor ETF (03132.HK)$ Tracks the world's top 20 semiconductor leaders, covering all bottleneck segments of the AI computing power value chain. Top 10 holdings are: $Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM.US)$ 、 $Broadcom (AVGO.US)$ 、 $NVIDIA (NVDA.US)$ 、 $Micron Technology (MU.US)$ 、 $Samsung Electronics (005930.KR)$ 、 $Advanced Micro Devices (AMD.US)$ 、 $SK hynix (SKHY.US)$ 、 $ASML Holding (ASML.US)$ 、 $Applied Materials (AMAT.US)$ and $Intel (INTC.US)$ 。[2]

Google Cloud’s backlog of undelivered orders has exceeded $514 billion, indicating exceptionally high visibility into AI infrastructure demand for the coming years. Meanwhile, $Samsung Bloomberg Global Semiconductor ETF (03132.HK)$ this is precisely achieved through a basket of global leaders, enabling investors to capture semiconductor growth opportunities driven by AI without needing to predict where the next 'bottleneck' will emerge.

Source: [1] Bloomberg (July 23, 2026)

[2] Samsung Asset Management (Hong Kong), as of July 21, 2026

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