FY2026 EPS Estimates for Alphabet Cut by Erste Group Bank

Key Points

• Erste Group Bank lowered Alphabet’s FY2026 EPS estimate to $20.56 from $20.59, slightly below the $20.60 consensus forecast.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive: Alphabet has an overall “Buy” rating, with an average price target of $425.04 and five Strong Buy ratings among the analysts tracked.
• Alphabet shares opened at $320.21, below their 50-day and 200-day moving averages, while insiders sold approximately $2.47 million of stock over the past three months.

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) - Investment analysts at Erste Group Bank dropped their FY2026 earnings per share estimates for shares of Alphabet in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, October 21st. Erste Group Bank analyst H. Engel now forecasts that the information services provider will post earnings of $20.56 per share for the year, down from their previous forecast of $20.59. The consensus estimate for Alphabet's current full-year earnings is $20.60 per share.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. DA Davidson set a $350.00 target price on shares of Alphabet and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and set a $380.00 target price (up from $379.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, October 14th. Phillip Securities raised shares of Alphabet from a "moderate buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Tigress Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $485.00 price target (up from $415.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, September 17th. Finally, Roth Capital reissued a "buy" rating and set a $440.00 price objective (up from $435.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $425.04.

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $320.21 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.92 trillion, a PE ratio of 16.08, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.21. Alphabet has a 52 week low of $255.32 and a 52 week high of $408.61. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $342.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $353.19. The company has a quick ratio of 2.64, a current ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.20, for a total value of $149,606.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 118,138 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.90, for a total transaction of $2,232,808.20. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 118,834 shares of company stock worth $2,465,703 in the last three months. Company insiders own 11.61% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. EMC Capital Management acquired a new position in Alphabet in the second quarter valued at $35,000. Core Capital Management & Research inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the second quarter worth about $41,000. Intelligent Financial Strategies acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the third quarter worth about $41,000. Premier Financial Group acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the second quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, Graney & King LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 38.5% in the 2nd quarter. Graney & King LLC now owns 180 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

More Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s AI investment story remains a potential long-term support. Analysts and investors point to rising demand for Google Cloud, internally developed TPU chips, advertising resilience, and the potential for Gemini and other AI products to drive future growth. Alphabet Investing Behind AI Demand and TPU Growth
• Positive Sentiment: Pre-earnings coverage remains constructive on Alphabet’s third-quarter outlook, citing AI adoption, cloud growth, and advertising strength. Erste Group also modestly raised its fiscal 2027 EPS forecast, while Citizens JMP maintained a “market outperform” rating despite lowering its price target. Pre-Q3 Earnings Alphabet Stock Outlook
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet’s quarterly preferred-stock dividend announcement is unlikely to materially affect GOOGL common shares. Investors are instead focused on operating results, capital expenditures, margins, and management’s AI spending guidance.
• Neutral Sentiment: The upcoming earnings report is the key near-term catalyst. Strong cloud and advertising metrics could help stabilize the stock, but investors may react negatively if capital spending rises faster than AI-related revenue and cash flow.
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple law firms announced or promoted securities-fraud class actions against Alphabet concerning the May 19–July 16 trading period. The complaints allege that Alphabet failed to disclose important information about Gemini 3.5 Pro’s development and launch readiness; the allegations have not been proven. Lead-plaintiff deadlines are generally December 1, with one notice citing November 30. Kaplan Fox Alphabet Class Action Notice
• Negative Sentiment: A reported Google Cloud outage in London disrupted financial and public-sector services and prompted scrutiny from UK regulators and lawmakers, raising operational, reputational, and regulatory concerns. Alphabet Cloud Outage and Regulation
• Negative Sentiment: The broader AI sell-off is weighing on Alphabet as investors question whether enormous data-center, chip, power, and compute expenditures will generate adequate returns. Heavy spending is also contributing to concerns about future margins and valuation.

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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