It’s amazing how quickly the wheels of artificial intelligence (AI) have changed. In just a couple of years, AI has gone from reading text and images to reading the room. The pace has only accelerated as mega-cap rivals are investing billions in infrastructure built to shape the next wave of smart services.
In the middle of this high-stakes race is Alphabet (GOOG) (GOOGL), which has now taken a step forward with Gemini 3, its latest AI model designed to offer clearer, more intuitive answers “so you get what you need with fewer prompts,” as CEO Sundar Pichai put it.
The debut comes eight months after Gemini 2.5 and 11 months after Gemini 2.0. With 650 million monthly app users and 2 billion monthly users interacting with AI Overviews, its momentum is gaining momentum. By comparison, OpenAI reported in August that ChatGPT reached 700 million weekly users.
Given the competitive and accelerating landscape, let’s explore what stance to hold for GOOGL stock.
Headquartered in Mountain View, California, Alphabet creates technology that seamlessly connects people to digital information, services and tools. Its ecosystem powers global search, YouTube, Android, Chrome and Google Cloud, while its artificial intelligence models, advertising platforms and consumer services, including Maps, Gmail and Workspace, form the backbone of daily digital life.
With a market capitalization approaching $3.5 trillion, the company’s investments also extend to autonomous driving through Waymo, innovations in health technology and advanced computing.
GOOGL’s performance in the market reflects its wide reach. GOOGL stock has risen 66% over the past 52 weeks, significantly outperforming the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite ($NASX), which posted a 19% gain, and outperforming the Roundhill Magnificent Seven ETF (MAGS), which advanced 23% over the same period.
Additionally, the stock hit a new 52-week high of $303.81 today, Nov. 19, rising 3.1% intraday after legendary investor Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) (BRK.B) invested $4.3 billion to acquire 17.8 million shares of GOOGL.
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Valuation metrics further underline GOOGL’s market positioning. The stock trades at 27.20 times forward adjusted earnings and 8.60 times sales, indicating a premium to industry averages. It indicates that investors are willing to pay for the company’s dominant position and growth potential.
Alphabet also rewards shareholders with consistent dividends, paying $0.84 per share annually, for a yield of 0.29%. The most recent quarterly payment of $0.21 per share is scheduled for December 15 to shareholders of record on December 8.
On Oct. 29, GOOGL stock rose 2.7% as the company reported third-quarter fiscal 2025 earnings in which revenue grew 15.9% year-over-year (YoY) to $102.4 billion, beating the Street’s $99.9 billion forecast. The growth marked the first quarter in the company’s history to exceed $100 billion.
Google services revenue increased 13.8% to $87.1 billion, driven by strong performance in Google Search and other Google YouTube subscriptions, platforms, devices and ads. Alphabet now has more than 300 million paid subscriptions, led by Google One and YouTube Premium.
Google Cloud stood out, posting a 33.5% increase to $15.2 billion, driven by strong growth in Google Cloud Platform (GCP), AI infrastructure, and generative AI solutions. Google Cloud’s momentum remained strong and it ended the quarter with a backlog of $155 billion.
Total operating income increased 9.5% year over year to $31.2 billion, and operating margins remained at a healthy 31%. Net income rose 33% to $35 billion, while earnings per share rose 35.4% to $2.87, comfortably beating analyst estimates of $2.26.
The company’s expansion into new businesses continues to accelerate. Through the third quarter of 2025, it signed more deals exceeding $1 billion than in the previous two years combined.
With strong growth in its core operations and growing demand for the cloud, Alphabet now anticipates 2025 capital expenditures to range between $91 billion and $93 billion, underscoring its commitment to infrastructure and innovation.
Analysts also maintain a broadly positive outlook for Alphabet. They project fourth-quarter earnings per share to rise 19.5% year over year to $2.57. The full fiscal 2025 bottom line is expected to rise 30.4% to $10.48. Meanwhile, fiscal 2026 is expected to extend the upward trajectory, with earnings per share expected to rise 4.2% to $10.92.
Bank of America Securities analyst Justin Post reaffirmed his “Buy” rating on GOOGL with a $335 price target, citing the company’s strong growth trajectory in artificial intelligence and cloud services as key long-term value drivers.
Its bullish outlook reflects the broader analytical consensus, which remains overwhelmingly positive with an overall rating of “Strong Buy.” Among the 55 analysts covering the stock, 43 recommend “Strong Buy”, four recommend “Moderate Buy” and eight suggest “Hold”.
GOOGL’s average price target of $315 represents a potential upside of 8%. Meanwhile, the street’s high target of $350 suggests a potential gain of 23.1% from current levels.
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On the date of publication, Aanchal Sugandh had no (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article are for informational purposes only. This article was originally published on Barchart.com
