Erste Group Bank Raises Earnings Estimates for Alphabet

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) – Research analysts at Erste Group Bank boosted their FY2026 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Alphabet in a report issued on Thursday, August 27th. Erste Group Bank analyst H. Engel now anticipates that the information services provider will post earnings per share of $20.56 for the year, up from their previous estimate of $20.50. The consensus estimate for Alphabet’s current full-year earnings is $20.50 per share. Erste Group Bank also issued estimates for Alphabet’s FY2027 earnings at $14.95 EPS.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $6.22. The firm had revenue of $119.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $117.07 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 54.77% and a return on equity of 51.32%.

GOOGL has been the topic of several other research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $425.00 target price (up from $405.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. New Street Research boosted their price target on Alphabet from $450.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Finally, Pivotal Research restated a “buy” rating and issued a $475.00 price target (up from $470.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $420.19.

Alphabet Stock Down 2.1%

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $339.35 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.72 and a quick ratio of 2.64. The company has a 50-day moving average of $349.41 and a 200 day moving average of $342.01. The firm has a market cap of $4.15 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.04, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.24. Alphabet has a 1 year low of $206.20 and a 1 year high of $408.61.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. EMC Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Bard Associates Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Finally, iSAM Funds UK Ltd purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the third quarter worth approximately $53,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 196,931 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.46, for a total value of $3,832,277.26. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of the company’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 transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 27,386 shares in the company, valued at $9,125,015.20. This trade represents a 1.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 451,925 shares of company stock valued at $12,371,544 in the last quarter. Insiders own 11.61% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Investors of record on Monday, September 7th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 4.42%.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain constructive on Alphabet’s valuation and growth outlook. Citizens analyst Andrew Boone expects the stock to reach a new record high over the next 12 months, while other commentary highlights strong cloud momentum and argues that market concerns about Alphabet may be excessive. Wall Street analyst sets Google price target One Mag 7 Stock to Watch
• Positive Sentiment: Google- and Meta-backed Jio Platforms received approval for an Indian IPO. The listing could provide Alphabet with a potential valuation catalyst for its investment and increase visibility into the value of the stake. Jio Platforms IPO approval
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet is balancing record cloud growth against historically high AI-related capital spending. Investors are focused on whether rising infrastructure costs will generate sufficient future revenue and margins compared with Amazon’s spending strategy. Alphabet and Amazon AI capital spending
• Neutral Sentiment: Director Frances Arnold sold 82 shares for approximately $27,692, reducing her direct holdings by 0.43%. The relatively small transaction is unlikely to materially change the investment case, but it may attract limited attention amid the stock’s recent volatility. Alphabet insider transaction filing
• Negative Sentiment: Fresh scrutiny of Google’s £260 million U.K. app-store settlement added to regulatory pressure. Reports also say Google changed European search rules to avoid a potentially much larger EU revenue penalty, though the concessions could weaken its search economics and competitive position. Google U.K. app-store settlement Google European search rules
• Negative Sentiment: Investors continue to debate whether Meta’s AI products could challenge Google Search and whether Alphabet’s AI investment will pressure returns before producing meaningful new revenue. Concerns about talent departures and the uncertain reception for future Gemini releases are also weighing on sentiment. Meta AI competition with Google Search

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.