Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL) is in a more difficult position for many analysts and investors compared to prior years. Competitive pressures in core operation from AI and ongoing regulatory concerns ate away at the endless upside analysts had been predicting. While Wall Street had been less bullish for much of 2025, some analysts are now calling for Alphabet’s stock to surge to all-time highs in 2025 to 2026.
BofA’s Justin Post issued the latest bullish call for Alphabet. He reiterated his Buy rating and raised BofA’s official price objective to $210 from $200. That would be above Alphabet’s previous high of $207.05 and it is above-consensus versus the entire pool of price targets. Post’s higher price objective is actually not even the highest among rival analyst price target hikes seen in July.
Before getting into the upgraded price objective, investors should always consider an ongoing warning that no single analyst report should ever be the sole basis to buy or sell a stock. This is particularly true when it comes to aggressive “Buy” and “Outperform” ratings and forecasts that are considered to be well above consensus estimates. Analysts can get their thesis wrong just like the rest of us, and fundamentals can change in an instant.
What makes this price objective upgrade stand out is that the above-consensus call is a strategic call ahead of earnings (due July 23). Investors should consider that Alphabet’s stock has risen for eight consecutive trading days and that the stock’s gain is over 6% in that period. And Alphabet’s stock price is now back to mid-February levels from before the tariff scare sent stocks into a panic. That can set up a potential scenario for profit-taking if the concerns rival the expected positives.
The strategic nature of this price objective upgrade is that BofA’s first point is calling for “strong results” that are above-consensus just days before the earnings report. BofA is forecasting revenues of $81 billion and earnings of $2.21 per share (versus consensus of $79.5 billion in revenue and $2.15 in earnings per share).
As previously noted, other analysts have also been chiming in on Alphabet ahead of earnings with higher price targets. Not all of the firms have Buy/Outperform ratings, but the trend on price targets has been skewed heavily toward the upside in July. Here are some of those rival analyst calls with price target changes issued in July:
- July 17 — KeyBanc Capital Markets (Overweight) target to $215 from $195
- July 16 — Needham & Co. (Buy) target to $210 from $178
- July 16 — UBS (Neutral) target to $192 from $186
- July 16 — Cantor Fitzgerald (Neutral) target to $196 from $171
- July 15 — BMO Capital Markets (Outperform) target to $208 from $200
- July 11 — JPMorgan (Overweight) target to $200 from $195
- July 9 — Oppenheimer (Outperform) target to $220 from $2200
- July 8 –Roth Capital (Buy) target to $205 from $180
- July 8 — Wells Fargo (Equal-Weight) target to $177 from $175
Seeing analysts hike price targets comes with no assured outcome of a higher stock price. Netflix had just seen perhaps the largest wave of price target hikes (15 of them!) ahead of its earnings report, but even after beating expectations its stock fell 5% post-earnings due to profit taking and investors adjusting their weighting.
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Justin Post sees multiple positives in the quarterly report due in less than a week:
- commentary suggesting ad spending has accelerated since April
- strong search results are suggesting AI integration is aiding monetization
- better than expected YouTube data versus this time last year
- cloud strength, via added capacity and Workspace AI integration
- search monetization remains strong, even as click volumes may have decelerated slightly
- still growing its headcount, while voluntary employee buyout program suggests ongoing cost management
- AI Mode integration commentary
- Gemini traction
- capital spending
- its recent deal with OpenAI
BofA’s report does warn that the Department of Justice search trial outcome is expected in early August and that it could be a bigger event than earnings for the stock, which implies that Wall Street’s expectations may have tempered some enthusiasm after the quarter until the judge rules on its case. The report also shows Google search results as flat to down incrementally while ChatGPT results have been surging (100%-plus) at Google’s expense.
One key issue that also remains is that Google is valued at just 12-times the 2026 earnings in a sum of parts valuation (not versus total EPS). The firm noted that it continues “to see a favorable risk/reward” based on those metrics. BofA’s Investment Rationale says:
We see Alphabet as well positioned long term with leading AI technology to apply to search, YouTube and Cloud businesses. Alphabet should also benefit from increasing mobile usage, video usage, Google Play activity, and connected device activity (including autos). We believe that Alphabet should trade at a premium to a media peer group given technology leadership, high margins, and strong cash flow generation for buybacks.
BofA has also adjusted its revenue and earnings targets out to 2027 to show continued growth despite many of the concerns around AI and competitive/regulatory threats. The firm sees 13.4% revenue growth to $334.8 billion in 2025, 13.1% growth to $378.8 billion in 2026 and then 12.6% growth to $426.6 billion in 2027. Its earnings per share estimates are $9.82 EPS in 2025 (up 22%), $10.42 EPS in 2026 (up 6.1%) and $11.65 EPS in 2027 (up 11.8%).
Google was last seen trading at $185.00 and the consensus price target is closer to $203. While Alphabet’s stock has risen 5% in July, investors might also note that this stock is down 2% year-to-date versus YTD gains of 7% for the S&P 500 and over 9% for the NASDAQ-100. Its 52-week trading range is $140.53 to $207.05.
