Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Price Down 2.4% – Here’s Why

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s stock price was down 2.4% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $320.43 and last traded at $322.00. Approximately 34,806,957 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 8% from the average daily volume of 32,179,172 shares. The stock had previously closed at $330.00.

More Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Sales surge for Gemini AI models — Reports say Google has seen a meaningful uptick in sales of its Gemini AI models, which investors interpret as improving product quality and stronger monetization of AI offerings; that supports longer‑term revenue/ads and cloud monetization narratives. Google Sees Surge in Sales of Gemini AI Models
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst price-target upgrades — Deutsche Bank raised its PT to $370 (buy) and Robert W. Baird lifted its PT to $350 (outperform); analyst upward revisions signal stronger earnings/AI growth expectations and likely provided buying support ahead of today’s session. Deutsche Bank Adjusts PT Baird Adjusts PT
• Positive Sentiment: Broader bullish analyst commentary on tech — Coverage noting AI/cloud winners (including Alphabet) and pieces recommending GOOGL as a long‑term buy are reinforcing investor conviction in secular growth drivers. Fool Buy Recommendation
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet’s milestone valuation and coverage on AI-driven strategy — Coverage noting Alphabet’s entry to the $4T club underscores scale and strategic positioning in AI, but it’s more of a thematic tailwind than an immediate catalyst. Alphabet Enters $4 Trillion Club
• Negative Sentiment: Market risk-off from geopolitical/tariff tensions — Tech stocks led a broader sell‑off tied to escalating tensions over Greenland and tariff rhetoric, producing short‑term outflows and weighing on high‑beta/AI‑growth stocks like GOOGL. Tech Sell-off on Greenland Tensions
• Negative Sentiment: Delay at Google‑backed Isomorphic Labs — Isomorphic Labs pushed expected first clinical trials to end‑2026, which tempers near‑term biotech upside tied to Alphabet’s moonshot bets and may modestly reduce investor enthusiasm for non‑core R&D catalysts. Isomorphic Labs Delay
• Negative Sentiment: Magnificent Seven divergence — Commentary that the AI‑led mega caps are decoupling and some are lagging the market adds to rotation risk and short‑term volatility for GOOGL. WSJ: Group Divergence

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Loop Capital upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $260.00 to $320.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $365.00 price target (up from $330.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “buy” rating and set a $315.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Roth Capital raised their price objective on Alphabet from $210.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group set a $390.00 target price on Alphabet and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-five have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $329.08.

Alphabet Price Performance

The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $312.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $256.45. The stock has a market cap of $3.89 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.75.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.87 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by $0.58. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.00% and a net margin of 32.23%.The firm had revenue of $102.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.90 billion. Research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.45, for a total transaction of $31,971.90. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 18,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,706,357.25. This represents a 0.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $321.21, for a total transaction of $10,439,325.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,244,372 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $720,914,730.12. This trade represents a 1.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 189,909 shares of company stock worth $57,927,282. 11.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Norges Bank bought a new position in Alphabet during the second quarter valued at $21,944,208,000. Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at $4,338,397,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 17,667.7% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 15,245,075 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,686,640,000 after acquiring an additional 15,159,273 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in Alphabet by 28.0% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 53,107,572 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $12,910,542,000 after acquiring an additional 11,605,785 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Alphabet by 51.7% in the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 31,817,684 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,607,232,000 after acquiring an additional 10,843,853 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Company Profile

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.