Google just posted the biggest quarterly profit ever—$112 billion—and Wall Street is punishing it for doing so
Fortune · C · trust 38/100
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Alphabet made history Wednesday with a quarterly profit that stretched into 12 figures for the first time in the search giant’s history—and perhaps for the first time in any company’s history, Fortune’s Eva Roytburg reports . Alphabet, the parent company of Google, grew its bottom line by 298% year-over-year in the second quarter, totaling an astounding $112.1 billion in net income. Alphabet’s Q2 revenue increased by a very impressive 24%, to $119.8 billion.
The stock declined 1.46% at the close yesterday and then sold off another 3.72% overnight. Why? Traders were surprised by CEO Sundar Pichai’s new guidance on future capex for 2026: $195 billion to $205 billion (it had previously been $180 billion to $190 billion). The company also did not describe in any detail how that spending generates revenues, particularly in relation to AI. “The 200 was the do-not-cross line,” Brian Mulberry of Zacks Investment Management told the WSJ . “You can’t be offloading this much cash and not talk about it.”
When Larry Culp became the CEO of GE in 2018, the colossal conglomerate that Jack Welch built into the most valuable and admired enterprise in America teetered on the brink of collapse. The sprawling business model that competitors once envied had become a liability—unwieldy, capital-intensive, and increasingly unable to compete in focused, fast-moving markets. At the time, GE’s market cap measured just $96 billion, down over 80% from its peak in September 2000. Today, the valuations of the three enterprises total $689 billion. Culp told Fortune’s Shawn Tully how he did it .
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The U.S. and Iran amped up the rhetoric and the shooting in their war over the last 24 hours. The price of Brent Crude oil reacted: It’s $98 per barrel this morning, up from a low of $93 yesterday.
Centcom reported a 12th straight night of bombing against Iran late last night. Targets included “maritime capabilities, missile and drone storage facilities, coastal surveillance sites, and air defense assets.”
The Houthis, Iran’s Yemen-based proxy terror group, struck two Saudi ships in the Red Sea—a move that sharply restricted traffic through the Bab al-Mandab Strait, which like the Strait of Hormuz is a major passageway for oil.
President Trump said “Any time the Islamic Republic of Iran shoots at a ship in the Strait of Hormuz, whether it be by Missile, Rocket, Drone, or any other device or weapon, the United States will bomb and destroy ONE BRIDGE OR POWER PLANT.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi responded : “Our defense doctrine is clear: eye for an eye. Any aggression against Iran, including our infrastructure, will compel a powerful and decisive response. Those who contribute to such aggression, whatever the kind of support, will also be considered as legitimate targets.”
The U.S. has ramped up its forces in the Gulf over the past few days, deploying special-operations forces and jet fighters across the Middle East. Bombers based in the U.S. and U.K. are on high alert, the WSJ reported. The U.S. has also begun using a B-1 long-range bomber for the first time, Axios said .
There is no exit in sight, analysts said. It takes so few resources to deter shipping in both straits—a few drone strikes will do it—that it is enormously difficult for the U.S. to keep the waterways safe.
President Trump has pretty much lost the war against Iran, according to a strongly worded note from Andy Laperriere and his colleagues at Piper Sandler. “It borders on delusional to say that Trump needs to pursue diplomacy with Iran unless by that one really means end the war on Iran's terms,” he wrote. “What kind of deal is Trump going to get? … The MOU itself was a near-total surrender to Iran. The only tangible benefit for the US was the opening of the Strait for 60 days. The US didn't even get that. What's on the table now?”
“Iran is toying with Trump,” Laperriere continues. The “President thought he won at least two months of relief. And then Iran took it back. This is a classic hardball negotiating tactic that Trump is no doubt familiar with himself. You give a concession. Your opponent breathes a sigh of relief. And then you renege on it. It's psychologically worse than if the concession had never been granted in the first place.”
“ Countries in the region have figured out which way the wind is blowing and some of them are betting Iran is going to control the Strait when this is all over,” he concluded. There are reports that some countries have agreed to pay Iran for access to the Strait: “Look for other countries to pay a ransom to Iran, whether by unfreezing funds, paying the toll to pass through the Strait, or some other means.”
At Macquarie, Thierry Wizman and Gareth Berry are also in a gloomy mood. The rising price of oil has the potential to sandbag the global economy and force rises in interest rates, they say: “The worries about global growth are well-placed, we think. The first round of the kinetic War between the US and Iran did result in a deterioration in the global growth data, as seen in the Citibank global growth surprise index. Since May, the surprise index has bounced back after expectations adjusted and oil prices peaked. But this is now a set-up for negative surprises if supply constraints begin to weigh on global growth again.”
They got the message. After President Trump authorized strict…
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