NVIDIA Takes Profit Crown as Alphabet's Net Income Soars

Google's parent company Alphabet and NVIDIA both reported impressive earnings recently, but their profitability rankings depend on how one measures profit. On a trailing twelve-month basis, Alphabet booked $244.119B in net income against NVIDIA's $192.879B. However, when operating income is considered, the picture flips, with NVIDIA leading with $197.579B compared to Alphabet's $147.628B.

The discrepancy arises from how each company accounts for equity securities gains. Alphabet's most recent quarter saw a net income of $112.107B, up 297.6% year over year, driven by equity securities gains in every quarter of the window. In contrast, NVIDIA's operating income excludes taxes and real gains/losses, making it a more accurate measure of core execution.

NVIDIA also marked up private stakes, with its Q1 FY2027 net income exceeding its operating income due to $15.9B in net equity securities gains. Both companies are repricing frontier-AI holdings, but Alphabet's headline number is unusually sensitive to the paper value of a single private-company stake.