Alphabet FY2026 EPS Estimate Boosted by Erste Group Bank

Key Points

• Erste Group Bank raised its FY2026 EPS estimate for Alphabet to $14.12 from $11.54, bringing it close to the broader analyst consensus of $14.29 per share.
• Alphabet posted a strong quarterly beat, reporting $5.11 EPS on $109.9 billion in revenue versus expectations of $2.68 EPS and $106.96 billion in revenue, with revenue up 21.8% year over year.
• Analyst sentiment remains bullish, with multiple firms maintaining or raising price targets and the stock carrying a consensus “Buy” rating and average target price of $362.73.

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) - Equities researchers at Erste Group Bank increased their FY2026 earnings per share estimates for shares of Alphabet in a research report issued on Tuesday, May 5th. Erste Group Bank analyst H. Engel now anticipates that the information services provider will post earnings per share of $14.12 for the year, up from their prior estimate of $11.54. The consensus estimate for Alphabet's current full-year earnings is $14.29 per share.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on GOOG. Truist Financial set a $385.00 target price on Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and set a $395.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. DZ Bank upgraded Alphabet to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, February 16th. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and set a $348.00 target price (up from $345.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "buy" rating and set a $370.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $362.73.

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $397.05 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 1.92. The company has a market capitalization of $4.81 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.25. Alphabet has a one year low of $153.83 and a one year high of $398.37. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $317.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $311.59.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.68 by $2.43. The company had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $106.96 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 21.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.81 EPS.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 8th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Alphabet's payout ratio is 6.41%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $371.00, for a total transaction of $37,842.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 18,621 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,908,391. This trade represents a 0.54% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 617 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.63, for a total value of $178,701.71. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 10,093 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,923,235.59. This represents a 5.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 158,553 shares of company stock worth $47,951,856. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Auto Owners Insurance Co raised its holdings in Alphabet by 38,409.2% during the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 179,836,276 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $5,643,262,000 after purchasing an additional 179,369,280 shares during the last quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP raised its holdings in Alphabet by 28,482.8% during the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 112,091,870 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $35,174,429,000 after purchasing an additional 111,699,704 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth about $18,093,665,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. raised its holdings in Alphabet by 850.3% during the 4th quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 17,692,600 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $5,551,938,000 after purchasing an additional 15,830,754 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Alphabet by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 421,013,782 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $132,114,125,000 after purchasing an additional 8,128,234 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s recent earnings strength continues to drive optimism, with analysts raising price targets and earnings estimates after a strong Q1 beat that showed faster growth in Search, Cloud, and YouTube. Investors are also reacting to broad bullish coverage and high-profile holders adding to GOOG exposure.
• Positive Sentiment: Google is expanding its AI monetization tools, unveiling AI-powered Search and Shopping bidding/budgeting features that could make ad spending more efficient and support ad revenue growth. Article: Google AI Automates Ad Bidding and Budget Pacing
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet is also leaning into AI and consumer hardware, with new Fitbit Air and AI health-coach launches, plus continued work on smart glasses and broader agentic AI products. These developments reinforce the view that Google is becoming a major AI platform across ads, devices, and subscriptions.
• Neutral Sentiment: Several reports point to continued institutional interest and analyst support, including fund additions and upgraded target prices, but these are largely reinforcement signals rather than immediate catalysts.
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory overhang remains a concern after Google was given more time to address EU antitrust issues, and a new UK lawsuit over online display ads adds another legal challenge. Article: Google has bit more time to address concerns in EU investigation, EU Commission says
• Negative Sentiment: Google also settled a racial discrimination lawsuit for $50 million, which removes some uncertainty but highlights ongoing reputational and legal risks tied to employment practices. Article: Google settles racial discrimination lawsuit for $50 million

Alphabet Company Profile

Alphabet Inc NASDAQ: GOOG is a multinational technology holding company headquartered in Mountain View, California. Formed in 2015 through a corporate restructuring of Google, Alphabet serves as the parent to Google LLC and a portfolio of businesses collectively known as "Other Bets." Google was originally founded in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin; Alphabet is led by CEO Sundar Pichai, who oversees Google and the broader company while the founders remain prominent shareholders and influential figures in the company's history.

Alphabet's core business centers on internet search and advertising, with Google Search and the company's ad platforms (including Google Ads and AdSense) generating the majority of revenue by connecting advertisers with consumers worldwide.

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