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Alphabet Inc. (GOOG), headquartered in Mountain View, California, is one of the world’s largest and most influential technology companies. As the parent of Google, it dominates global markets in search, digital advertising, YouTube, Android, and cloud computing, while advancing innovation through subsidiaries like Waymo, DeepMind, and Verily.
Companies valued at $200 billion or more are generally labeled as "mega-cap stocks,” and Alphabet not only fits this category but surpasses it by a wide margin, boasting a market capitalization well above this threshold. With a massive market capitalization of about $2.84 trillion, Alphabet commands the tech industry with its expansive ecosystem spanning artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing, and cutting-edge innovation.
GOOG stock is holding on to solid gains at the moment. Over the past three months, its shares have gained 33.9%. The stock had reached a 52-week high of $238.40 on Sept. 8, and is down only 1.8% from this high. Over the same period, the broader Vanguard Communication Services Index Fund ETF Shares (VOX) has gained 13.4%. Therefore, GOOG has outperformed the communication services sector over this period.
On a year-to-date (YTD) basis, Alphabet’s stock has gained 23%, while over the past 52 weeks, it is up by 53.9%. In contrast, the Vanguard Communication Services ETF gained 20% and 39% over the same periods, respectively.
On the technical side, Alphabet has remained consistently above its 50-day and 200-day moving averages since late July, signaling sustained upward momentum.
On July 23, Alphabet reported solid second-quarter results. The company’s quarterly revenues grew 13.8% year-over-year (YOY) to $96.43 billion. Alphabet is optimistic about AI, which has had a favorable impact on every part of its business. Its EPS for the quarter was $2.31, which was 22.2% higher than the EPS for the same period in the prior year.
Recently, Alphabet escaped a harsh antitrust ruling when U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta issued the verdict in a landmark case involving an alleged internet search monopoly. While Judge Mehta reaffirmed that the company has a monopoly in the internet search sphere, the punishment was not severe. Instead of being forced to divest key businesses, such as Chrome, the company faces narrow restrictions. Following the news release, GOOG’s stock gained 9% intraday on Sept. 3.
To hammer home the stock’s outperformance, we see that one of its top big tech rivals, Apple Inc. (AAPL), has gained 7.7% over the past 52 weeks and has declined 5% YTD.
Wall Street analysts are bullish on Alphabet’s stock. The stock has a consensus rating of “Strong Buy” from the 54 analysts covering it. The mean price target of $233.29 shows a marginal downside compared to current levels. However, the Street-high price target of $300 indicates a 28.1% upside.
On the date of publication, Anushka Mukherjee did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.
