Susquehanna Has Lowered Expectations for Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Price

Key Points

• Susquehanna lowered Alphabet’s price target from $460 to $400 while maintaining a positive rating, implying approximately 23% upside from the current price.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly favorable: Alphabet has an average “Buy” rating and a consensus price target of $420.64, despite several firms recently reducing their targets.
• Alphabet’s latest quarter fell short of expectations, with earnings of $2.12 per share versus $3.02 projected and revenue of $127.58 billion versus $127.96 billion expected.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) had its price objective lowered by equities researchers at Susquehanna from $460.00 to $400.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a "positive" rating on the information services provider's stock. Susquehanna's price objective points to a potential upside of 23.12% from the company's current price.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Moffett Nathanson set a $345.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday. Citizens Jmp dropped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $515.00 to $450.00 and set a "market outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Pivotal Research reissued a "buy" rating and set a $475.00 price target (up from $470.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Evercore restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $450.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, September 16th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price objective on Alphabet from $420.00 to $350.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. 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 an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $420.64.

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $324.89 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.72 and a quick ratio of 2.64. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $341.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $340.66. Alphabet has a 12 month low of $267.67 and a 12 month high of $408.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.97 trillion, a PE ratio of 16.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.21.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 28th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $3.02 by ($0.90). The firm had revenue of $127.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $127.96 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 54.77% and a return on equity of 51.32%. Equities analysts predict that Alphabet will post 20.60 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director Frances Arnold sold 83 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $340.45, for a total transaction of $28,257.35. Following the sale, the director directly owned 19,076 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,494,424.20. The trade was a 0.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 11.61% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 477 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $137,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Rockbridge Investment Management LCC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Rockbridge Investment Management LCC now owns 5,460 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,570,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Ruggaard & Associates LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Ruggaard & Associates LLC now owns 2,921 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $840,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Cadia Private Client LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 1.1% during the first quarter. Cadia Private Client LLC now owns 2,589 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $744,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Evansbrook LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 0.3% during the first quarter. Evansbrook LLC now owns 9,522 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,738,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Needham reaffirmed its “buy” rating and set a $450 price target, implying substantial upside from current levels. Needham rating
• Positive Sentiment: Google Cloud revenue reportedly more than doubled to approximately $31 billion, beating expectations and highlighting strong demand for Alphabet’s AI infrastructure and services. Google Cloud revenue report
• Positive Sentiment: OpenAI is reportedly planning to use Google’s custom TPU chips, while Alphabet is expanding TPU availability through Oracle Cloud. The developments could create a new AI-chip revenue stream and reduce reliance on Nvidia. Google TPU expansion
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet retains a strong balance sheet and relatively modest leverage, supporting continued investment in AI despite near-term pressure on free cash flow.
• Neutral Sentiment: Rosenblatt and Cantor Fitzgerald kept positive ratings but reduced their price targets to $380 and $350, respectively—suggesting continued confidence while acknowledging higher execution and spending risks.
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet’s reported SpaceX investment produced a major mark-to-market loss that reduced quarterly earnings, but the accounting impact does not necessarily reflect deterioration in core operating performance. SpaceX investment impact
• Negative Sentiment: Third-quarter earnings were $2.12 per share versus a $3.02 consensus estimate, while revenue of $127.58 billion also slightly missed expectations. Alphabet earnings miss
• Negative Sentiment: Search and other revenue grew 12% but fell short of forecasts for a second consecutive quarter. YouTube advertising revenue also missed estimates, increasing concern that AI search may be pressuring Alphabet’s highest-margin business.
• Negative Sentiment: Heavy data-center and AI investment pushed free cash flow to a larger-than-expected deficit, reinforcing worries that spending is rising faster than monetization. Alphabet cash burn report
• Negative Sentiment: Several law firms announced securities-fraud class-action deadlines tied to alleged disclosures about Gemini development, adding a legal overhang, although the lawsuits are not currently a core earnings driver.

Alphabet Company Profile

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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