Alphabet's Q2 2026 results delivered cleaner earnings quality than Meta's, with operating margin expanding to 34% while Meta's compressed to 31%. Alphabet's revenue rose 24.23% to $119.80 billion, driven by Google Cloud accelerating to 82% growth at $24.77 billion, and its P/E stands at 15. Meta's ad revenue climbed 27% to $59.36 billion, but free cash flow collapsed 91.31% to $784 million after a $2.40 billion legal charge and $30.12 billion in CapEx. Alphabet suspended its buyback and ran free cash flow negative at -$5.86 billion after spending $44.92 billion on CapEx. Meta shares are down 10.48% year to date, while Alphabet is up 13.79%.
