Morgan Stanley maintains Alphabet stock Overweight, $210 target

Published 02/04/2025, 10:38
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On Wednesday, Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) reaffirmed its Overweight rating on Alphabet shares (NASDAQ:GOOGL) with a price target of $210.00. The tech giant, currently valued at $1.92 trillion, maintains strong financial health according to InvestingPro analysis, with a P/E ratio of 19.49 and annual revenue of $350 billion. The firm’s analysts highlighted the latest performance data from Alphabet’s autonomous vehicle division, Waymo. Waymo reported a significant increase in cumulative miles driven, which reached approximately 50 million by the end of December, a substantial rise from the 33 million miles recorded in September. InvestingPro data reveals that Alphabet holds more cash than debt on its balance sheet, positioning it well for continued investment in autonomous technology.

The Los Angeles area showed particularly strong growth, with cumulative miles reaching around 5 million, up from 2 million in September, and surpassing Morgan Stanley’s estimates by 25%. Due to these results, Morgan Stanley has increased its projections for Waymo’s annual miles driven for the years 2025 and 2026 by approximately 6% and 4%, respectively. Discover 10+ additional exclusive insights about Alphabet’s growth potential with an InvestingPro subscription.

The firm now expects Waymo to exceed 1 billion annual miles driven and generate roughly $2.5 billion in revenue by 2030. To put this into context, 1 billion miles in 2030 would still constitute only 0.03% of the total miles driven in the United States. According to the analysts, the rapid adoption of autonomous technology in cities like Los Angeles, which has outpaced both San Francisco and Phoenix, bodes well for the pace of autonomous vehicle adoption in the coming years as new cities begin to implement the technology.

In other recent news, Roblox Inc. has announced a new video advertising format in partnership with Google, aimed at expanding its advertising business. This initiative allows users to watch video ads in exchange for in-game rewards, with the option for brands to purchase these ads through Google’s platform. The move is part of Roblox’s strategy to diversify its revenue streams and leverage its large Gen Z user base. Partnerships with data measurement firms like Cint, DoubleVerify (NYSE:DV), and Nielsen are also in place to help brands measure ad campaign effectiveness on the platform. Meanwhile, Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) Group Holding Ltd. is gearing up to launch Qwen 3, an upgraded AI model, amid increasing competition in the AI sector. The company has been actively releasing new AI products, including a model in the Qwen 2.5 series. This comes as rivals such as OpenAI and DeepSeek continue to release new models, intensifying competition in the AI space. Alphabet Inc. faces potential challenges as Melius Research suggests OpenAI’s entry into the advertising market could impact Alphabet’s revenue. Additionally, JMP analysts maintain a Market Perform rating on Alphabet, noting potential impacts from an upcoming anti-trust penalty.

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