Alphabet has notched its first $100 billion-plus quarter, with revenue of $102.35 billion, a 16 percent increase for the period ending September 30. The result exceeded analyst estimates of $99.89 billion. CEO Sundar Pichai noted the results marked a 100 percent increase in Q3 revenue since 2020, when it was $50 billion. “We’re firmly in the generative AI era,” Nadella said, noting diversification “with successful businesses in Cloud, YouTube and subscriptions.” The company was onboard with the trend in increased spending, upping its capital expenditure range from $85 billion to $91 billion – $93 billion for 2025.

“Our momentum is strong and we’re shipping at speed,” Pichai said in a blog post summarizing comments from his earnings call. Third quarter highlights include more than 650 million MAUs for the company’s Gemini AI app, with queries up 3x from Q2. First party models, including Gemini, now process 7 billion tokens per minute for business users via API, Pichai added.

Cloud computing, which includes AI, “had another great quarter of accelerating growth with AI revenue as a key driver,” Pichai noted, saying “cloud backlog grew 46 percent quarter-over-quarter” to $155 billion.

“The backlog comes from demand for enterprise AI infrastructure, including chips and demand for Gemini 2.5,” according to Alphabet CFO Anat Ashkenazi, writes CNBC.

Overall, Q3 sales for the cloud unit were $15.2 billion, up 34 percent over the same period a year earlier. “We’re seeing AI now driving real business results across the company,” Pichai told investors.

The company also crossed the 300 million paid subscription mark, “led by growth in Google One and YouTube Premium,” Pichai said. “YouTube advertising revenue for the period was $10.26 billion, a year-over-year increase of 15 percent,” reports Variety.

“Net income was about $35 billion, a 33 percent increase over the same period a year ago,” notes The Wall Street Journal, reporting Alphabet shares were up “more than 6 percent in after-hours trading.”

Despite the strong result, the company faces challenges, WSJ points out, noting that “Google’s search division faces competition from a host of AI startups including ChatGPT and Perplexity.” Search revenue showed solid growth in Q3, up 15 percent year-over-year to $56.6 billion.

Related:
Meta, Google, and Microsoft Triple Down on AI Spending, Wired. 10/29/25