Google is making a fortune betting on its rivals. Some are already bringing it more profit than its own business

Alphabet posted record quarterly profit, but most of the jump came from paper gains on its stakes in SpaceX and Anthropic.

Its core businesses, including Google Cloud, continued to grow, showing the underlying business is still healthy.

The results highlight a gap between headline earnings and cash generation, since the gains were unrealized revaluations rather than operating cash.

Alphabet is still spending heavily on AI and data centers, so investors are watching free cash flow and funding needs closely.