Alphabet dividend: payments, cash cover and yield
Alphabet paid $0.83 per share in 2025, with the forecast rising to $1.10, $1.40 and $1.70 in the base case. Its cash has funded dividends and much larger buybacks, but negative second-quarter free cash flow makes a dividend freeze credible.
How much does Alphabet pay its shareholders?
The dividend rises from the 2025 rate of $0.83 to $1.10, $1.40 and $1.70 in the base case. The bear case freezes it because capital spending is high; the bull case reaches $2.30 as cash conversion improves. The freeze remains credible because second-quarter free cash flow was negative $5,855 million.
| 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| − Paid to minority owners, per share | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| − Dividends paid, per share | 0.82 | 0.59 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| − Share buybacks, per share | 3.74 | 5.00 | 4.83 | 4.51 | 3.71 |
Is Alphabet's dividend covered by its cash?
Alphabet returned most free cash flow through buybacks, with dividends beginning in 2024. A payout can exceed cash free after capital expenditure because employee share awards create an economic cost without requiring cash at the moment of grant. Buybacks reduce the share count, but new employee shares replace part of that reduction.
Stock compensation saves cash today but gives employees part of the company. Alphabet recorded $24,953 million of it in 2025. Subtracting that owner cost leaves approximately $48,313 million of real free cash flow. Buybacks can offset employee issuance, but counting all buybacks and stock compensation as separate costs can double-count dilution.
| 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free cash flow | 73,266 | 72,764 | 69,495 | 60,010 | 67,012 |
| − Dividends paid | 10,049 | 7,363 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| − Share buybacks | 45,709 | 62,222 | 61,504 | 59,296 | 50,274 |
| = Free cash flow not paid out | 17,508 | 3,179 | 7,991 | 714 | 16,738 |
| Paid out, % of free cash flow | 76.1% | 95.6% | 88.5% | 98.8% | 75.0% |
| Paid out, % of real free cash flow | 115.4% | 139.2% | 130.8% | 145.9% | 97.4% |
What could change Alphabet's dividend?
| October 2027 | October 2028 | October 2029 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dividends per share | 1.10 (0.83 / 1.25) | 1.40 (0.83 / 1.75) | 1.70 (0.83 / 2.30) |
| Enterprise value to ebitda | 23.00 (20.00 / 25.00) | 23.00 (18.00 / 27.00) | 24.00 (17.00 / 29.00) |
| Net debt | -24,500 (-24,300 / -14,000) | 74,600 (87,600 / 71,700) | 139,500 (204,800 / 109,400) |
What is Alphabet's dividend yield today?
Free cash flow is operating cash after capital expenditure. Alphabet’s recent free-cash-flow yield is only a small current return on the share price, and its real free-cash-flow yield is thinner still. That compares poorly with the 5.24% ten-year Treasury yield, so investors are relying heavily on future growth rather than current cash.