Alphabet’s Valuation Boosted by Waymo’s Stunning Funding Round

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As Alphabet prepares to release its Q4 2025 financial results, a monumental development at its autonomous driving subsidiary is already reshaping the investment narrative. Waymo's latest capital raise has not only injected billions but has dramatically recalibrated the unit's worth, setting a high-stakes backdrop for the parent company's upcoming earnings announcement.

In a move that signals profound confidence in its future, Alphabet's Waymo unit secured a $16 billion funding round on February 2, 2026. The transaction places a staggering $126 billion valuation on the self-driving car venture. This figure represents a near-tripling of its worth from just over a year prior, when it was valued at approximately $45 billion in October 2024.

While Alphabet maintains its position as majority owner, the funding round attracted heavyweight financial partners. Established backers such as Andreessen Horowitz, Fidelity, and Silver Lake were joined by new investors including the prominent venture capital firms Sequoia Capital and Kleiner Perkins. The substantial capital infusion is earmarked to fuel an aggressive expansion plan. Having completed 15 million rides in 2025, Waymo's roadmap now includes launches in Washington, Las Vegas, and its first international market: London.

Strategic Alliances and Market Performance

Beyond its core robotics business, Alphabet's strategic positioning in artificial intelligence is drawing significant analyst attention. A recently unveiled partnership with Apple, confirmed in January, will see Google's Gemini AI model integrated as the foundation for an upgraded Siri voice assistant. This collaboration potentially grants Google services access to Apple's ecosystem of over 2.5 billion active devices.

Market observers note the parallel to the longstanding and lucrative search engine agreement between the two tech titans. Although official financial terms remain undisclosed, media reports speculate that the arrangement could involve annual payments from Apple to Google approaching $1 billion.

This confluence of positive developments has propelled Alphabet's stock performance. Shares recently touched a new 52-week high of $349.00, reflecting a year-to-date surge exceeding 72 percent. This bullish sentiment, however, raises the threshold for the company to meet elevated investor expectations with its quarterly report.

Earnings Preview: Cloud and Capex in the Spotlight

Analysts have set a high bar for Alphabet's Q4 2025 results, forecasting revenue of around $111.24 billion, which would equate to growth of roughly 15 percent. Scrutiny will be particularly intense on two key segments:

• Google Cloud: Following a robust Q3 performance where revenue grew by 34 percent, the market anticipates a continuation of this strong momentum.
• Capital Expenditure (Capex): In the wake of Meta's revised upward guidance for infrastructure spending, experts predict Alphabet will also signal increased investments. The focus will be on the capital required to scale its AI data center capabilities. The company's initial 2025 capex forecast ranged from $91 to $93 billion; whether Alphabet significantly revises this guidance upward for the 2026 fiscal year will be a critical factor in the market's reaction.

Tonight's earnings call will reveal if Alphabet's operational performance can validate the optimism generated by Waymo's landmark valuation and its strategic AI advancements.

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