Cantor Fitzgerald Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Price

Key Points

• Cantor Fitzgerald cut Alphabet’s price target from $420 to $350 while maintaining an “overweight” rating, implying approximately 7.7% upside. Despite the reduction, analysts overall remain bullish, with a consensus “Buy” rating and average target of $423.04.
• Alphabet missed quarterly expectations, reporting $2.12 in EPS versus $3.02 expected and $127.58 billion in revenue versus $127.96 billion forecast. Slower advertising growth and roughly $9.1 billion in negative free cash flow raised concerns about AI spending and pressure on the core Search business.
• Google Cloud and AI remain key growth opportunities: Cloud revenue more than doubled to about $31 billion, while expanded TPU offerings and new Gemini capabilities could support future monetization, although legal risks and high infrastructure costs remain overhangs.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) had its target price dropped by equities researchers at Cantor Fitzgerald from $420.00 to $350.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "overweight" rating on the information services provider's stock. Cantor Fitzgerald's price objective would indicate a potential upside of 7.73% from the company's current price.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and set a $445.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Zacks Research lowered Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $480.00 price target (up from $465.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, October 20th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $450.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $423.04.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $324.89 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.97 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.32, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.21. Alphabet has a one year low of $267.67 and a one year high of $408.61. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $341.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $340.66. The company has a current ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 2.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.02 by ($0.90). Alphabet had a net margin of 54.77% and a return on equity of 51.32%. The firm had revenue of $127.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $127.96 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet will post 20.60 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director Frances Arnold sold 83 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $340.45, for a total value of $28,257.35. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 19,076 shares in the company, valued at $6,494,424.20. The trade was a 0.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 11.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Corecam AG purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the third quarter valued at $1,622,000. Bell Investment Advisors Inc boosted its stake in Alphabet by 5.0% in the third quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc now owns 10,821 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $3,723,000 after acquiring an additional 514 shares in the last quarter. Verus Financial Partners Inc. boosted its stake in Alphabet by 3.1% in the third quarter. Verus Financial Partners Inc. now owns 3,485 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,199,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Columbia Bank grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 6.1% during the third quarter. Columbia Bank now owns 48,070 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $16,540,000 after purchasing an additional 2,743 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hoey Investments Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.3% during the third quarter. Hoey Investments Inc. now owns 39,476 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $13,583,000 after purchasing an additional 489 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google Cloud delivered exceptional growth: Revenue more than doubled to approximately $31 billion, surpassing expectations as demand for AI infrastructure remained strong. Alphabet's Google Cloud unit beats quarterly revenue estimates
• Positive Sentiment: AI-chip prospects are improving: OpenAI reportedly plans to purchase Google’s custom TPU chips, while Alphabet is expanding TPU availability through Oracle Cloud. These developments could create a new infrastructure revenue stream and reduce reliance on Nvidia. Google alters cloud playbook to sell more AI chips
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet continues expanding its AI ecosystem: Google launched the Gemini 4 Carbon model and is extending AI-powered Search ads and connected-app capabilities, potentially creating future monetization opportunities. Google expands AI Search ads globally
• Neutral Sentiment: Legal risks remain an overhang: Several law firms publicized an existing securities-fraud class action alleging Alphabet misrepresented development delays involving Gemini 3.5 Pro. The announcements do not establish wrongdoing, but they could add reputational and litigation risk. Alphabet securities fraud lawsuit announcement
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet missed quarterly expectations: Earnings per share were $2.12 versus a consensus estimate near $3.02, while revenue of $127.58 billion was slightly below forecasts. Net income also fell 25% year over year, partly because of an estimated $11 billion mark-to-market loss on its SpaceX investment.
• Negative Sentiment: Advertising momentum slowed: YouTube advertising revenue reached $11.2 billion, below the roughly $11.43 billion expected, while broader Search advertising growth also decelerated. This intensified concerns that AI assistants could disrupt Google’s core search business. Google shares fall as ad revenue misses estimates
• Negative Sentiment: AI investment is weighing heavily on cash generation: Alphabet reported approximately $9.1 billion in negative free cash flow and maintained elevated spending plans for data centers and AI capacity. Investors are questioning whether cloud growth can justify the scale and timing of this spending. Alphabet falls after free cash flow concerns

About Alphabet

Alphabet Inc is a technology holding company best known for its Google subsidiary. Google operates a global internet-services business centered on online search, digital advertising, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Google Maps, Google Play, and a broad range of cloud-based productivity and collaboration tools.

Google Cloud provides infrastructure, data analytics, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and enterprise software services to businesses, governments, and other organizations. Alphabet also develops consumer hardware, including Pixel devices and products for connected homes, while investing in emerging businesses through its “Other Bets” segment, including autonomous transportation and life sciences initiatives.

Alphabet was established in 2015 as part of a corporate restructuring that made Google a subsidiary and provided a separate structure for its expanding portfolio of businesses.

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