5 big analyst AI moves: Apple lifted to Buy, AI chip bets reassessed
Investing.com - Bernstein raised its price target on Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) stock to $260.00 from $210.00 while maintaining a Market Perform rating. The stock, currently trading at $251.69 with a market capitalization of $3.05 trillion, has delivered a strong 56% return over the past year according to InvestingPro data.
The firm cited cleared regulatory headwinds and accelerated AI development as key factors, noting Gemini’s rise to the top of app store rankings with its Nano Banana feature.
Bernstein highlighted solid progress in Google Cloud Platform (GCP), driven by increased consumption from Anthropic and strong AI customer wins, with expectations of continued cloud business re-acceleration in the current quarter.
Despite the positive developments, Bernstein cautioned that competition remains strong, with OpenAI maintaining its position and other companies like Meta pursuing the AI chatbot market without yet launching ad products.
The firm values Alphabet using a combination of 2027 estimated EV/EBIT multiple of 18x and a discounted cash flow analysis with a 9% weighted average cost of capital and 3.0% terminal growth rate, considering it primarily a digital advertising business.
In other recent news, Alphabet Inc.’s Waymo has begun manual testing of its autonomous vehicles at Newark airport, aiming to establish future passenger transportation services. This initiative is in collaboration with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Meanwhile, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has initiated a preliminary evaluation of approximately 2,000 Waymo robotaxis in the United States to assess their interaction with stopped school buses. In another development, Google has launched Google Skills, a new platform featuring nearly 3,000 courses, labs, and credentials centered around AI and technical skills. This platform consolidates resources from Google Cloud, Google DeepMind, and other Google educational initiatives. Additionally, Citizens has reiterated its Market Outperform rating for Alphabet, maintaining a price target of $290.00, citing potential growth driven by AI enhancements in search functionality. Furthermore, Deepwater Asset Management cofounder Gene Munster suggests that Google is well-prepared to counter the challenge posed by OpenAI’s new Atlas browser.
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