Alphabet (GOOGL) Stock: Waymo Targets $110B Valuation with Massive $15B Funding Round

TLDR

• Waymo is seeking to raise up to $15 billion in 2026 from Alphabet and outside investors at a valuation of roughly $110 billion
• The new funding would more than double Waymo’s October 2024 Series C round of $5.6 billion at a $45 billion valuation
• Waymo currently provides paid robotaxi services in five U.S. markets and plans to expand to 11 more cities in 2026
• The company achieved approximately 450,000 weekly paid rides in early December and completed 14 million trips in 2025
• Waymo plans to launch its first international service in London in 2026

Waymo is preparing for its largest funding round yet. The autonomous driving unit owned by Alphabet is in discussions to raise up to $15 billion in 2026. The funding will come from both parent company Alphabet and outside investors.

The new round would value Waymo at approximately $110 billion. This represents more than double the company’s last valuation from October 2024. At that time, Waymo raised $5.6 billion in a Series C round at a $45 billion valuation.

Alphabet committed $5 billion to the October funding round. Other investors included Andreessen Horowitz, Fidelity, Perry Creek, Silver Lake, Tiger Global, and T. Rowe Price. The company’s co-CEOs said the funds would support expansion of its robotaxi service.

Alphabet Inc., GOOGL

The massive capital raise reflects Waymo’s position as the market leader in robotaxis. The company operates or plans to operate in 26 markets across the U.S. and abroad. This expansion requires heavy spending on fleet growth and regional launches.

Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai expects Waymo to contribute meaningfully to the parent company’s financials by 2027. The timeline suggests the robotaxi business is approaching commercial scale.

Expanding Across America and Beyond

Waymo currently offers paid robotaxi rides in five U.S. cities. These include Austin, the San Francisco Bay Area, Phoenix, Atlanta, and Los Angeles. The company serves real customers in these markets daily.

The expansion pipeline is aggressive. Waymo plans to launch services in 11 additional U.S. cities next year. The list includes Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Las Vegas, Miami, Nashville, Orlando, San Antonio, San Diego, and Washington, D.C.

London will mark Waymo’s first international market in 2026. The move overseas signals the company’s global ambitions.

Recent data shows strong demand for Waymo’s services. In early December, the company achieved approximately 450,000 weekly paid rides. This represents actual paying customers, not test rides or free promotions.

Waymo completed 14 million trips in 2025 through December. The company expects to finish the year having completed more than 20 million total trips since launching paid services in 2020. The growth trajectory appears to be accelerating.

Competition Heats Up

The robotaxi market is getting crowded. Amazon’s Zoox began offering free driverless rides around the Las Vegas Strip and certain San Francisco neighborhoods this year. Tesla launched a Robotaxi-branded service in Austin and the San Francisco Bay Area, though those vehicles still had human drivers or safety supervisors on board as of mid-December.

Traditional ride-hailing companies Uber and Lyft also compete for market share. These companies already have established customer bases and brand recognition.

Analysts covering Alphabet stock remain bullish on the company’s prospects. On TipRanks, GOOGL has a Strong Buy consensus rating based on 29 Buy ratings and seven Hold ratings. The average price target of $323.73 suggests 5.6% upside from current levels.

Alphabet stock has surged over 62% year-to-date. The gains reflect investor optimism about Google Search, cloud computing growth, and the emerging robotaxi business.

The $15 billion funding round would provide Waymo with substantial resources to maintain its market leadership position. The company continues to test autonomous vehicles in additional markets while scaling existing operations.

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