Erste Group Bank Forecasts Increased Earnings for Alphabet

Key Points

• Erste Group raised FY2027 EPS for Alphabet to $14.32 (from $13.50), topping the $14.01 consensus and signaling analysts expect continued margin and profit strength.
• Alphabet delivered a strong Q1 beat with $5.11 EPS vs. $2.64 expected and revenue of $109.9 billion vs. $106.98 billion, alongside a 37.9% net margin and 38.99% ROE.
• Street sentiment is bullish with several price‑target increases and a consensus rating of Moderate Buy (target ~$406.71), and the company modestly raised its quarterly dividend to $0.22.

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) - Equities research analysts at Erste Group Bank raised their FY2027 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Alphabet in a research note issued on Tuesday, May 5th. Erste Group Bank analyst H. Engel now expects that the information services provider will post earnings of $14.32 per share for the year, up from their prior estimate of $13.50. The consensus estimate for Alphabet's current full-year earnings is $14.01 per share.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.64 by $2.47. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%.The business had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $106.98 billion.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Dbs Bank lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and set a $425.00 target price (up from $395.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $370.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Alphabet from $397.00 to $361.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $406.71.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $398.94 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $4.83 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.41, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.26. Alphabet has a one year low of $152.20 and a one year high of $400.10. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $318.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $311.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 1.92.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 110,330 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $20,886,000 after acquiring an additional 4,110 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 14,930 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,826,000 after buying an additional 506 shares during the period. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 17.6% in the second quarter. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY now owns 3,888 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $685,000 after acquiring an additional 581 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 11.2% during the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 485,486 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $85,557,000 after purchasing an additional 48,805 shares during the period. Finally, United Bank lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 6.9% in the 2nd quarter. United Bank now owns 48,204 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $8,495,000 after purchasing an additional 3,120 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.89, for a total transaction of $10,006,425.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,642,060 shares of the company's stock, valued at $505,573,853.40. This trade represents a 1.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 617 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.63, for a total transaction of $178,701.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 10,093 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,923,235.59. The trade was 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 quarter, insiders have sold 158,553 shares of company stock valued at $47,951,856. Company insiders own 11.61% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 8th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 8th. Alphabet's payout ratio is currently 6.71%.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Surging demand for AI names is funneling money into funds that hold Google, boosting investor appetite for GOOGL as a core AI platform and infrastructure play. Google, Broadcom Drive Delirious Demand. So Do 16 More Stocks.
• Positive Sentiment: Erste Group raised its FY2027 EPS forecast for Alphabet to $14.32 (from $13.50), above consensus — a sign analysts expect continued margin and profit strength that supports higher valuations. Erste Group raises FY2027 EPS estimate for Alphabet
• Positive Sentiment: Several street moves have lifted price targets (examples include Mizuho and other shops raising targets into the $435–$465 range), reinforcing bullish analyst sentiment after the Q1 beat. Upgrades/target lifts can attract momentum buyers. Alphabet Given New $460.00 Price Target at Mizuho
• Positive Sentiment: New product monetization news — Google rebrands Fitbit as Google Health, launches a $9.99/mo AI health coach and the Fitbit Air wearable — which can expand recurring revenue and showcase Google’s AI consumer offerings. Google's $9.99-per-month AI health coach launches May 19
• Neutral Sentiment: Competition in “agentic” AI is heating up (Meta, Google and others racing to ship AI agents). This underscores long‑term opportunity but also increases capex/R&D and competitive uncertainty. The Tech Download: Meta, Google enter AI agent race as ‘agentic wars' heat up
• Neutral Sentiment: Speculative machine‑learning price predictions and upbeat Wall Street writeups reinforce momentum narratives but are not fundamental drivers — treat them as sentiment amplifiers, not hard guidance. Machine learning algorithm predicts Google stock price on May 31, 2026
• Negative Sentiment: European Commission says Google gets extra time to address concerns in an EU investigation after an earlier proposal fell short — regulatory process could still result in remedies or fines, creating legal and operational risk. Google has bit more time to address concerns in EU investigation
• Negative Sentiment: Fresh UK legal actions: a high‑value £3bn collective claim and a separate lawsuit over display ads increase litigation risk and potential damages or restrictions in a key market. These suits are material tail risks that can cap valuation multiples. Google facing £3bn legal claim accusing it of monopolising display ads market

About Alphabet

Alphabet Inc is the holding company created in 2015 to organize Google and a portfolio of businesses developing technologies beyond Google's core internet services. Its principal operations are led by Google, which builds and operates consumer-facing products such as Google Search, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Gmail, Google Maps and Google Workspace, as well as advertising platforms (Google Ads and AdSense) that historically generate the majority of its revenue. Google also develops consumer hardware (Pixel phones, Nest smart-home devices, Chromecast) and developer and distribution platforms such as Google Play.

Beyond Google's consumer and advertising businesses, Alphabet invests in enterprise and infrastructure offerings through Google Cloud, which provides cloud computing, data analytics and productivity services to businesses and institutions.

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