Alphabet and Amazon profits are being boosted by paper gains from Anthropic

In short: Alphabet and Amazon have reported stronger profits partly because the estimated value of their Anthropic investments went up, even though they did not sell anything.

What's going on

Alphabet and Amazon both own stakes in Anthropic, a private AI company. When Anthropic’s valuation rises, the two companies can record a higher value for those stakes in their financial results.

This can create a big jump in reported profit, even if their main businesses like ads, cloud services, and online shopping do not change much. It is similar to checking the price of a house you own and writing down that it is worth more, even if you have not sold it and have not received cash.

Recent earnings show how large these changes can be. Bloomberg reported that Alphabet’s profit included $10.7 billion in net gains on equity investments, partly tied to Anthropic. Amazon’s third-quarter profit was helped by a $9.5 billion pretax gain linked to its Anthropic stake. Later reporting said the effect grew even bigger in later quarters, including Alphabet reporting $98 billion in investment gains in Q2 2026.

A key detail is that these are mostly unrealized gains, meaning they are accounting gains, not money from customers. The number can also swing the other way if Anthropic’s valuation falls.

What to watch

Because Alphabet and Amazon have exposure to the same private AI investments, their results may move together more often. Future fundraising rounds, valuation changes, or an IPO for Anthropic could make these paper gains larger, smaller, or even disappear in a given quarter.

Source: NYTimes