Goldman Lines Up $1.5 Billion Energy-Prepayment Bond as Google's Capital Plans Fan Out Across Three Continents

Alphabet is set to be the recipient of funds from a planned $1.5 billion bond tied to an energy prepayment, with Goldman Sachs arranging the transaction, according to a Bloomberg report published Tuesday. A closing on the deal has not yet been announced.

The financing headline lands alongside a string of infrastructure commitments that show how far the company's build-out now reaches. Google has taken over Crusoe's data center site in southeastern Wyoming, Reuters reported, assuming the project there after previously flagging an investment to expand artificial-intelligence infrastructure. On Wednesday came a separate pledge: $15 billion in Malaysia for 2027–2028, covering digital infrastructure including new data center complexes, clean-energy initiatives and workforce training.

More Than a Gigawatt, and 800,000 Trained Workers

The Malaysia package carries over 1 GW of planned clean-energy capacity, according to company figures, and aims to put roughly 800,000 people through skills programs by 2031. Google is also tying the build-out to local-jobs efforts and water-replenishment projects.

Those announcements sit on top of a capital-spending curve that has become the central number for investors. Alphabet booked $51.4 billion of outlays in the third quarter of 2026, and management left its full-year 2026 guidance untouched at $195 billion to $205 billion. For 2027, the company expects a marked further increase — a forecast rather than money already spent. Finance chief Anat Ashkenazi said on the October 28 earnings call that capex would likely climb significantly in 2027; per AP, that outlook, together with results that fell short of expectations, fed the after-hours slide in the stock.

Cloud Doubles as Search Growth Cools

The spending is being funded by a business that is still expanding at a healthy clip. Third-quarter 2026 revenue came in at $127.6 billion, up 25% year over year. Google Cloud was the standout, with revenue of $30.7 billion, a 103% jump. Diluted earnings per share were $2.12.

Search tells a more nuanced story. Wells Fargo analyst Ken Gawrelski trimmed his price target on Monday to $365 from $371 while keeping an Overweight rating — a lower marker that stopped well short of a downgrade. The firm pointed to the growing reach of AI Overviews as the main drag on search-revenue growth.

Sentiment around the stock has been pulled in two directions. Wednesday's gains were linked in media reports to hopes that slower AI investment could improve free cash flow and cut risky outlays, with election results and local measures expected to constrain data center construction. That optimism sits awkwardly beside the capex guidance and the post-earnings retreat — a reminder that the market is still working out whether Alphabet's spending is an engine or a bill.