Alphabet (GOOG): The $98 billion paper illusion [Q2 2026]

Alphabet’s Q2 2026 headline earnings broke records, but beneath the surface lies a massive accounting distortion and a capital-intensive hardware pivot.In ~10 minutes:- Why a $98B unrealized paper gain artificially inflated EPS.- Google Cloud's quiet shift to selling physical TPU systems.- Burning $45B in single-quarter capex pushes FCF negative.- Renting third-party compute to bridge internal server shortages.The tech giant is trading traditional software margins for brutal AI infrastructure costs, leaning on an unprecedented external capital raise to fund operations. We break down the new hardware lock-in strategy and why the market sold off after hours despite astronomical revenue growth.Alphabet Inc. (GOOG) | Q2 FY2026AI-assisted production. Feedback/ticker requests: https://x.com/EarnUnscripted.