Alphabet surprisingly lifted its full-year capital expenditure forecast, sending its stock down 4% in after-hours trading.
Alphabet reported stronger-than-expected Q2 2026 results, with earnings per share (EPS) of $9.11 and revenue of $119.8 billion, beating Wall Street consensus estimates of $6.23 EPS and $116.51 billion in revenue respectively. However, investors’ concerns over the company’s sharply increased capital expenditure plan and recent margin pressure pushed Alphabet’s share price down 4.24% to $327.4 in after-hours trading, per market data from BIT (bit.com). Market analysts attribute the post-session sell-off to Alphabet raising its full-year 2026 capital expenditure forecast to $19.5–$20.5 billion, up from the prior projection of $18–$19 billion. Management stated the hike reflects plans to accelerate capacity delivery to meet demand, with roughly 60% of the expenditure allocated to servers and 40% to data centers and networking equipment. The company noted demand for AI infrastructure remains robust, though supply constraints are still limiting the pace of capacity delivery. Management also added that third-party capacity usage in Q3 may exert some margin pressure, while the integration of Wiz will create short-term headwinds in 2026. Looking ahead, Alphabet expects sustained strong demand for its Search, YouTube, and Cloud businesses, with AI features driving higher usage and improved monetization. The company also noted that most revenue from TPU system sales is expected to be recognized in 2027, not 2026.
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U.S. House of Representatives passes bill to restrict members from trading stocks.
According to Politico, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill on Wednesday aimed at restricting stock trading by members of Congress and their families. However, the legislation sparked internal divisions among Democrats, with some party members deeming it insufficiently stringent. Titled the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act, this marked the first congressional bill targeting congressional stock trading to be voted on by the full House, ultimately passing 232 to 198, with 13 Democratic lawmakers supporting it. Of the 93 total lawmakers who co-sponsored the bill, only two were Democrats. A separate, stricter bill— which would have required members and their families to sell their currently held stocks—earned wider bipartisan backing but failed to advance to a full House vote. Most Democrats consider the passed measure inadequate, as it does not include a provision mandating the sale of existing holdings. The bill will now be sent to the Senate for review.
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Google Cloud significantly exceeded expectations, with two key metrics: 82% year-over-year revenue growth and a 34% operating margin.
Results for Alphabet, Google’s parent company, were released overnight for the second quarter. Alphabet’s Q2 revenue hit $119.8 billion, up 24% year-over-year, while operating profit reached $40.8 billion, a 30% year-over-year increase. Driven by a sharp rise in equity gains from holdings including Anthropic, net profit came in at $112.1 billion, surging 298% year-over-year. Notably, Google Cloud generated $24.8 billion in revenue, far exceeding market expectations of $22.5 billion, with an 82% year-over-year jump. Beyond significantly outperforming Wall Street’s forecasts for cloud revenue, the business’s backlog—contracted revenue not yet recognized—rose to $514 billion, crossing the $500 billion threshold for the first time, further demonstrating that the company’s large-scale AI investments are translating into commercial returns. In the same period, the company’s capital expenditure totaled $44.9 billion, surpassing market expectations of $44.2 billion. The CEO noted that AI investments are redefining the entire business.
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US Senator Cynthia Lummis: In the coming days, she will continue to push for a bipartisan agreement on the CLARITY Act to enact it into law.
US Senator Cynthia Lummis released a statement thanking her Democratic colleagues for their key contributions to the new draft of the CLARITY Act, and pledged to continue pushing for an agreement in the coming days to get the bill enacted into law. Lummis noted that consumer protection and supporting innovation are not mutually exclusive, adding that the draft demonstrates both goals can be achieved simultaneously. Earlier reports indicated that Senate Republicans unveiled the new version of the CLARITY Act following a briefing call with industry stakeholders. The revised text proposes to ban officials including the U.S. president, vice president, members of Congress, federal judges, and their spouses from receiving compensation via issuing or sponsoring digital assets while in office; the relevant provisions will remain in effect until January 20, 2029. Restricted officials must also sell their crypto assets and investments in crypto-related firms, or place them in blind trusts over which they have no control; sales of crypto assets exceeding $1,000 are required to be disclosed.
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The CLARITY Act adds, for the first time, provisions restricting the president and government officials from profiting through crypto assets.
According to CNBC, the new CLARITY Act under consideration by the U.S. Senate would ban the president and other federal officials from issuing or sponsoring cryptocurrencies and other digital assets. Republican lawmakers updated the bill’s text on Wednesday, adding for the first time provisions restricting the president from profiting from crypto assets, with the rules applying to both the president and other federal officials. The CLARITY Act is designed to be the U.S.’s first comprehensive piece of legislation regulating the digital asset market, and remains pending in the Senate.
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The revised CLARITY Act has been officially released, prohibiting the president and government officials from issuing or sponsoring crypto assets for profit.
Crypto journalist Eleanor Terrett reported that U.S. Senate Republicans have released a revised version of the CLARITY Act following a briefing call with industry stakeholders. The ethics framework in the revised bill was developed by the White House in consultation with Republican Senators Cynthia Lummis and Bernie Moreno, and has not yet secured Democratic backing. The new text would bar U.S. officials—including the president, vice president, members of Congress, federal judges—and their spouses from earning compensation during their terms via issuing or sponsoring digital assets; these provisions are set to expire on January 20, 2029. Covered officials must sell their crypto assets and investments in crypto firms, or place them in blind trusts over which they have no control, with sales of crypto assets exceeding $1,000 requiring disclosure. The U.S. Department of Justice would be granted civil enforcement authority for ethics violations, including prosecuting trading platforms that knowingly operate banned tokens. However, Democrats oppose granting the DOJ sole enforcement power without extending authority to state attorneys general, and the relevant provisions could still be adjusted in the coming days. The revised bill retains the BRCA and Keep Your Coins Act, clarifying that non-custodial software developers and blockchain infrastructure providers will not be classified as money transmitters solely for maintaining decentralized networks, while safeguarding individuals’ right to self-custody of crypto assets. Stablecoin provisions remain unchanged: interest on idle payment stablecoin balances is banned, but rewards tied to actual activities like trading or staking are permitted.
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