# Waymo’s Financial Performance Amid Alphabet’s Market Volatility Autonomous driving unit faces high operational losses despite massive valuation and expansion plans. - **Source:** [Fortune | FORTUNE](https://brifing.si/source/769282ef-327a-4454-909a-3c7936216004) - **Published:** 2026-10-30 - **Topic:** [Business](https://brifing.si/c/business) - **Original article:** - **On Brifing:** https://brifing.si/s/35078c7a-2cc0-452b-901e-bfa2ba4b21f7 ## Alphabet Market Value Decline Alphabet experienced its worst single-day market value drop since its 2004 IPO, losing $482 billion on Thursday. Analysts attributed this significant sell-off primarily to performance concerns within Google’s core search business. Despite the broader corporate volatility, Alphabet reported a strong consolidated revenue of $127.6 billion, marking a 25% year-over-year increase. ## Other Bets Division Performance The Other Bets division, which houses Waymo, generated $372 million in revenue during the third quarter. This figure represents approximately 0.29% of Alphabet’s total quarterly sales. While revenue grew 8% compared to the previous year, the division reported an operating loss of $2.05 billion, widening from $1.43 billion in the prior year. ## Waymo Valuation and Funding Waymo secured a $16 billion funding round in February, achieving a valuation of $126 billion. This capital injection is intended to support expansion into more than 20 additional cities by 2026, including international markets like London and Tokyo. The company is actively diversifying its funding sources beyond Alphabet’s internal corporate backing. ## Debt Financing Strategy In October, Waymo closed a $5 billion term loan, marking its first foray into debt financing. Led by lenders including PIMCO, Blackstone, and Sixth Street, with Goldman Sachs as the lead bookrunner, this move provides financial flexibility. This strategy allows Waymo to scale autonomous operations without relying exclusively on equity-based funding rounds. ## Operational Scaling and Volume Waymo has transitioned from a conceptual phase to scaling commercial operations, reporting over 20 million lifetime rides. In 2025 alone, the company tripled its annual volume to 15 million rides. Currently, Waymo operates in 15 U.S. cities, with plans to launch in 15 additional metropolitan areas to solidify its market presence. ## Infrastructure and Capital Spending Alphabet’s capital expenditures reached $51.4 billion in Q3, a sharp increase from $24 billion in the same quarter last year. The majority of this spending is directed toward technical infrastructure, including data centers, servers, and networking equipment. These investments are essential to support the company’s broader AI ambitions and autonomous vehicle systems. ## Core Business Revenue Drivers Google Services, encompassing search, advertising, subscriptions, and YouTube, generated $96.3 billion in revenue. Simultaneously, Google Cloud contributed $30.7 billion, effectively doubling its revenue from the previous year. These segments remain the primary drivers of Alphabet’s financial health, maintaining an operating margin of 31.8% and $40.6 billion in consolidated operating income. ## Future Expansion and Outlook CEO Sundar Pichai highlighted a half-trillion-dollar revenue run rate, emphasizing momentum across the entire business. Despite the high costs associated with the Other Bets division, Alphabet continues to prioritize long-term growth opportunities. The company remains focused on leveraging its full-stack approach to maintain competitive advantages in both search and autonomous mobility. ## Sources covering this story - https://fortune.com/2026/10/30/waymo-126-billion-alphabet-372-million-2-05-billion-google/ — --- _Summary written by Brifing from the original reporting. Copyright in the original article belongs to its publisher; read the full piece at the link above._