GOOGL · Technology(services-computer programming, data processing, etc.) · 10 years of annual accounts filed with the SEC · latest fiscal year ended 2025-12-31
Alphabet Inc. reported revenue of $402.8 billion in fiscal 2025, after growing 18.1% a year over the previous 9 years. Its operating margin widened from 26.3% in 2016 to 32.0%, and it earned 23.2% on its invested capital in the latest year. Of the $815.6 billion its operations generated over 10 years, 42.4% went to buybacks and 40.1% back into the business; the share count fell 11.5%. On the accounting screens, it passes 6 of 9 Piotroski tests, its Altman Z'' of 6.79 is in the safe zone and its Beneish M-score is below the -1.78 line; none of the six cross-checks between its statements fires.
Revenue, fiscal 2025402.8B+18.1% a year over 9 years
Operating margin32.0%gross margin 59.7%
Return on invested capital23.2%24.7% on average over 5 years
Free cash flow after stock pay48.3B12.0% of revenue
Net debt ÷ EBITDA0.1×net debt 17.8B
Piotroski F-score6/9tests of improvement passed
Share counts are in today's shares. The SEC's filings restate only recent years after a split, so these jumps were read as splits and the older years scaled to match — otherwise per-share figures would compare different units:
20-for-1 before fiscal 2021.
Is it growing?
Revenue and the operating income it turns into. Growth that does not reach operating income is growth bought with margin.
RevenueOperating income
0200.0B400.0B600.0B
2016Revenue 90.3BOperating income 23.7B
2017Revenue 110.9BOperating income 26.2B
2018Revenue 136.8BOperating income 27.5B
2019Revenue 161.9BOperating income 34.2B
2020Revenue 182.5BOperating income 41.2B
2021Revenue 257.6BOperating income 78.7B
2022Revenue 282.8BOperating income 74.8B
2023Revenue 307.4BOperating income 84.3B
2024Revenue 350.0BOperating income 112.4B
2025Revenue 402.8BOperating income 129.0B
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
Compound growth a year
3 yrs
5 yrs
9 yrs
Revenue
+12.5%
+17.2%
+18.1%
Operating income
+19.9%
+25.6%
+20.7%
Net income
+30.1%
+26.8%
+23.7%
Earnings per share
+33.4%
+29.4%
+25.4%
Free cash flow per share
+9.5%
+13.6%
+13.8%
Shares
-2.4%
-2.0%
-1.4%
Falling shares are buybacks: each remaining share owns more of the company.
Does it earn more than its capital costs?
Margins say how much of each sale is kept; return on invested capital says how much the business earns on the money it needs to operate. Growth only creates value when that return is above the cost of the capital.
Return on invested capitalCost of capital today · 9.6%
0.0%10.0%20.0%30.0%
2016Return on invested capital 13.4%
2017Return on invested capital 7.8%
2018Return on invested capital 13.3%
2019Return on invested capital 14.4%
2020Return on invested capital 14.5%
2021Return on invested capital 24.7%
2022Return on invested capital 23.2%
2023Return on invested capital 24.5%
2024Return on invested capital 27.9%
2025Return on invested capital 23.2%
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
Economic profit
Economic profit
-20.0B020.0B40.0B60.0B80.0B
2016Economic profit 5.5B
2017Economic profit -2.8B
2018Economic profit 6.9B
2019Economic profit 10.0B
2020Economic profit 11.7B
2021Economic profit 40.4B
2022Economic profit 37.0B
2023Economic profit 44.2B
2024Economic profit 61.7B
2025Economic profit 63.0B
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
(return on capital − cost of capital) × capital invested: the profit left after paying for the money used. Today's cost of capital is applied to every year, since a past one cannot be rebuilt honestly.
Return on equity
31.8%
Return on assets
22.2%
Asset turnover
0.68×
Research & development
15.2% of revenue
Overheads (SG&A)
5.3% of revenue
Is the profit cash, and where does the cash go?
Net income is an accounting opinion; free cash flow is what was left in the bank after investing. Stock-based pay does not leave the bank — shareholders pay it through dilution — so it is shown taken off as well.
Net incomeFree cash flowAfter stock-based pay
050.0B100.0B150.0B
2016Net income 19.5BFree cash flow 25.8BAfter stock-based pay 19.1B
2017Net income 12.7BFree cash flow 23.9BAfter stock-based pay 16.2B
2018Net income 30.7BFree cash flow 22.8BAfter stock-based pay 13.5B
2019Net income 34.3BFree cash flow 31.0BAfter stock-based pay 20.2B
2020Net income 40.3BFree cash flow 42.8BAfter stock-based pay 29.9B
2021Net income 76.0BFree cash flow 67.0BAfter stock-based pay 51.6B
2022Net income 60.0BFree cash flow 60.0BAfter stock-based pay 40.6B
2023Net income 73.8BFree cash flow 69.5BAfter stock-based pay 47.0B
2024Net income 100.1BFree cash flow 72.8BAfter stock-based pay 50.0B
2025Net income 132.2BFree cash flow 73.3BAfter stock-based pay 48.3B
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
Where 10 years of operating cash went, 2016–2025
815.6B generated by the business. Each band is its share of that total.
Reinvested in the business 40%326.7B
Acquisitions 0%0
Dividends 2%17.4B
Share buybacks 42%346.2B
Kept, or used to pay down debt 15%125.3B
Over the same years it paid 152.5B in stock. The share count fell 11.5%. 193.7B of the buybacks went beyond offsetting that dilution.
Per share
Earnings per shareFree cash flow per shareDividend per share
$0.00$5.00$10.00$15.00
2016Earnings per share $1.41Free cash flow per share $1.87Dividend per share $0.00
2017Earnings per share $0.91Free cash flow per share $1.72Dividend per share $0.00
2018Earnings per share $2.21Free cash flow per share $1.64
2019Earnings per share $2.49Free cash flow per share $2.25
2020Earnings per share $2.98Free cash flow per share $3.17
2021Earnings per share $5.74Free cash flow per share $5.06
2022Earnings per share $4.56Free cash flow per share $4.56Dividend per share $0.00
2023Earnings per share $5.80Free cash flow per share $5.46Dividend per share $0.00
2024Earnings per share $8.04Free cash flow per share $5.85Dividend per share $0.59
2025Earnings per share $10.81Free cash flow per share $5.99Dividend per share $0.82
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
Shares outstanding
Diluted shares
12.0B12.5B13.0B13.5B14.0B
2016Diluted shares 13.8B
2017Diluted shares 13.9B
2018Diluted shares 13.9B
2019Diluted shares 13.8B
2020Diluted shares 13.5B
2021Diluted shares 13.2B
2022Diluted shares 13.2B
2023Diluted shares 12.7B
2024Diluted shares 12.4B
2025Diluted shares 12.2B
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
How strong is the balance sheet?
Debt is not bad in itself; debt the business cannot service in a bad year is. Net debt is debt minus cash, and below zero the company holds more cash than it owes.
Net debt
-20.0B-10.0B010.0B20.0B
2016Net debt -9.0B
2017Net debt -6.8B
2018Net debt -12.8B
2019Net debt -14.5B
2020Net debt -10.1B
2021Net debt -5.5B
2022Net debt -6.6B
2023Net debt -11.2B
2024Net debt -11.6B
2025Net debt 17.8B
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
Net debt ÷ EBITDA
0.1×
Interest coverage
175× operating income ÷ interest
Current ratio
2.01 current assets ÷ current liabilities
Cash conversion cycle
— collects in 57d
Three classic screens of the accounts
Each asks a different question of the same statements — is it improving, does it look like a company heading for distress, do the accounts resemble ones that were manipulated. None is a verdict; each shows what moves it.
Piotroski F-score
Is the business improving? Nine yes-or-no tests, this year against last.
6of 9 tests passed
✓ProfitableReturn on assets above zeropassed
✓Cash from operationsOperating cash flow above zeropassed
✕Profitability improvedReturn on assets higher than a year beforefailed
✓Profit backed by cashOperating cash flow above net income (low accruals)passed
✕Less long-term debtLong-term debt as a share of assets fellfailed
✓More liquidCurrent ratio higher than a year beforepassed
✓No new sharesShare count did not growpassed
✓Better gross marginGross margin higher than a year beforepassed
✕Sells more per assetAsset turnover higher than a year beforefailed
Where it misleads: it measures change, not level. An excellent business that stood still for a year scores low; a poor one recovering from a disaster scores high.
Altman Z''-score
Does the balance sheet look like those of companies that went bankrupt?
6.79safe zone
1.12.6
Working capital ÷ assets 0.17 × 6.56+1.14
Retained earnings ÷ assets 0.54 × 3.26+1.77
Operating income ÷ assets 0.22 × 6.72+1.46
Equity ÷ liabilities 2.31 × 1.05+2.42
Where it misleads: buybacks. A company that returns so much cash that its equity turns small or negative sinks the last two ratios without being anywhere near bankruptcy. Banks and insurers do not fit the model at all.
Beneish M-score
Do the accounts resemble those of companies that manipulated their earnings?
-2.67below the -1.78 line
-1.78
Receivables vs sales 1.04+0.96
Gross margin slipping 0.98+0.52
Soft assets 1.00 (not reported, set to 1)+0.40
Sales growth 1.15+1.03
Slower depreciation 1.00 (not reported, set to 1)+0.12
Overheads vs sales 1.32-0.23
Profit not in cash -0.05-0.26
Leverage rising 1.13-0.37
Where it misleads: fast growth and acquisitions. Sales growth carries a heavy weight, so a company growing 50% a year scores like a suspect without having done anything. It is a screen from a 1999 study, not an accusation.
Where the statements disagree
Cross-checks between the income statement, the balance sheet and the cash flow for the latest year, each with the benign reading and the worrying one.
None of the six cross-checks fires for the latest year: receivables and inventory move with revenue, profit turns into cash, investment keeps up with depreciation, the tax rate is ordinary and debt is moderate.
What is it worth, under which assumptions?
A company is worth the cash it will generate, brought back to today. This model projects revenue with growth that fades over the years, applies a free cash flow margin, and discounts the result at the cost of capital. Every assumption says where it came from, and all of them can be changed.
Value per share, with these assumptions$49.34discounted at 9.6% a year · 56% of it from after year 10
Type a share price on the left to ask the reverse questions: what growth, what margin or what discount rate that price implies.
What the value implies, in the usual multiples
At this model's value
Price ÷ earnings
4.6×
Enterprise value ÷ EBITDA
4.1×
Enterprise value ÷ revenue
1.5×
Free cash flow yield
8.0%
From cash flows to a value per share
10 years of cash flow, today271.6B
Everything after, today349.7B
The whole business621.2B
Minus net debt-17.8B
What belongs to shareholders603.4B
Divided among 12.2B shares: <strong>$49.34</strong> each.
The projection next to its history
Reported free cash flow after stock pay, then the model's. A projection that looks nothing like the past needs a reason.
ReportedProjected
020.0B40.0B60.0B80.0B
2016Reported 19.1B
2017Reported 16.2B
2018Reported 13.5B
2019Reported 20.2B
2020Reported 29.9B
2021Reported 51.6B
2022Reported 40.6B
2023Reported 47.0B
2024Reported 50.0B
2025Reported 48.3B
2026Projected 28.0B
2027Projected 32.3B
2028Projected 36.7B
2029Projected 41.2B
2030Projected 45.6B
2031Projected 49.6B
2032Projected 53.3B
2033Projected 56.3B
2034Projected 58.6B
2035Projected 60.1B
2016201820202022202420262028203020322034
Year by year
2026
2027
2028
2029
2030
2031
2032
2033
2034
2035
Revenue
471.3B
543.8B
618.8B
694.1B
767.3B
836.0B
897.3B
948.6B
987.6B
1.01T
Growth
17.0%
15.4%
13.8%
12.2%
10.6%
8.9%
7.3%
5.7%
4.1%
2.5%
Cash margin
5.9%
5.9%
5.9%
5.9%
5.9%
5.9%
5.9%
5.9%
5.9%
5.9%
Free cash flow
28.0B
32.3B
36.7B
41.2B
45.6B
49.6B
53.3B
56.3B
58.6B
60.1B
Worth today
25.5B
26.9B
27.9B
28.6B
28.8B
28.7B
28.1B
27.1B
25.8B
24.1B
If the least-known inputs move
Value per share as two inputs change at a time. Neighbouring cells that differ a lot are the conclusion: the value depends on numbers nobody knows to a point.
The discount rate and growth forever
discount ↓ · forever →
1.5%
2.0%
2.5%
3.0%
3.5%
8.6%
51
54
58
63
68
9.1%
47
50
53
57
62
9.6%
44
47
49
53
56
10.1%
41
43
46
48
52
10.6%
39
40
43
45
48
Year-one growth and the final margin
margin ↓ · growth →
13.0%
15.0%
17.0%
19.0%
21.0%
4.8%
35
38
41
45
48
5.3%
38
42
45
49
53
5.9%
42
46
49
53
58
6.5%
45
49
53
58
63
7.1%
49
53
57
62
67
All the inputs moving at once
5,000 valuations, each with growth, final margin, discount rate and growth forever drawn at random around the values on the left (spreads of 3.0%, 2.0%, 1.0% and 0.5%). Not a probability — the spreads are assumptions too — but an honest picture of how wide the answer is.
10th percentile$30.16
Median$49.30
90th percentile$75.22
$25.00$50.00$75.00$100.00
Half of the simulations land between <b>$38.81</b> and <b>$61.60</b>; one in ten below $30.16, one in ten above $75.22.
Does the long run make sense?
2.3×The terminal value prices the business in year 10 at 2.3 times that year's EBITDA.
3%To grow 2.5% forever while reinvesting 78% of its after-tax operating profit, the business must earn 3% on the new capital — it has earned 25% on average over the last five years.
56%of the value comes from after year 10. The more of it, the more the answer depends on the part nobody can see.
Accounts from the company's own SEC filings; lines some companies do not report are shown as a dash rather than estimated. The risk-free rate is the 10-year US Treasury yield. A DCF is a way of making assumptions explicit, not a forecast: it states what the company would be worth if the assumptions held. The scores are screens that point where to look, not verdicts. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell.