Erste Group Bank Raises Earnings Estimates for Alphabet

Key Points

• Erste Group Bank raised its FY2027 EPS forecast for Alphabet to $15.18 from $15.01, though that remains below the broader consensus estimate of $20.60.
• Alphabet recently delivered a substantial quarterly beat, reporting $9.11 EPS versus the $2.89 consensus and revenue of $119.80 billion versus estimates of $117.07 billion.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive, with the stock carrying a consensus “Buy” rating and an average price target of $425.04, while investors continue to weigh AI and cloud growth against spending, regulatory and litigation risks.

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) - Equities researchers at Erste Group Bank upped their FY2027 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Alphabet in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, October 21st. Erste Group Bank analyst H. Engel now anticipates that the information services provider will post earnings of $15.18 per share for the year, up from their previous forecast of $15.01. The consensus estimate for Alphabet's current full-year earnings is $20.60 per share.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $6.22. The business had revenue of $119.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $117.07 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 51.32% and a net margin of 54.77%.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on GOOGL. Evercore restated an "outperform" rating and set a $450.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, September 16th. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $435.00 to $410.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Yorkville Ives started coverage on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, October 5th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $400.00 price objective on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $420.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, October 12th. Finally, Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $425.04.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $324.22 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.97 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.64 and a current ratio of 2.72. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $343.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $353.04. Alphabet has a one year low of $251.85 and a one year high of $408.61.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. EMC Capital Management purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth $35,000. Core Capital Management & Research inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth $41,000. Intelligent Financial Strategies purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth $41,000. Premier Financial Group purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth $45,000. Finally, Van Den Berg Management I Inc. grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 319.6% during the 1st quarter. Van Den Berg Management I Inc. now owns 214 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 118,138 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.90, for a total transaction of $2,232,808.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.20, for a total transaction of $149,606.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 27,386 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,125,015.20. The trade was a 1.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 315,765 shares of company stock worth $6,297,980 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 11.61% of the company's stock.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Cloud and AI demand support the long-term case. Analysts and bullish investors point to strong Google Cloud growth, rising AI infrastructure demand and Alphabet’s full-stack AI strategy as potential drivers of future earnings and cash flow. Alphabet cloud growth article
• Positive Sentiment: OpenAI’s cloud expansion provides a tangible catalyst. OpenAI plans to make its models available through Google Cloud, potentially increasing cloud usage and strengthening Alphabet’s position as an enterprise AI provider. OpenAI Google Cloud article
• Positive Sentiment: Valuation remains attractive to some analysts. Citizens JMP maintained a “market outperform” rating despite reducing its price target from $515 to $450, still implying substantial upside from the current level. Citizens JMP rating
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai says recursively self-improving AI is still in its early stages. The comments reinforce Alphabet’s long-term opportunity but also indicate that meaningful commercial benefits may require continued investment and development. Pichai AI comments
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are concerned about AI spending and execution. Reports that Alphabet may be paying SpaceX roughly $11 billion annually for computing capacity highlight concentration risk and raise questions about whether massive infrastructure spending will generate adequate returns. Alphabet SpaceX compute article
• Negative Sentiment: Gemini development delays triggered securities litigation. Multiple law firms are promoting class actions alleging Alphabet misrepresented the progress and launch timetable of Gemini 3.5 Pro. The filings follow a significant stock decline and add legal and reputational risk, although the allegations have not been proven. Alphabet securities lawsuit article
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory and operational concerns are adding pressure. European regulators are questioning a Google Cloud outage that affected banks, while U.S. senators are scrutinizing Google’s use of AI in schools. These issues could increase compliance costs and political risk. Google Cloud outage article

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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