Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL) is now in the $2 trillion club for mega-mega caps. If the price targets and ratings prove to be correct, the Alphabet shares could be going much higher. And there may not need to be a worry after the pullback from earnings. That small pullback may have just been profit taking. In fact, the trading reaction was no “gap and crap” chart pattern with a big gap-up followed by an immediate giveback of all the gains.
The consensus analyst target price was $166.71 ahead of earnings. Its pre-earnings closing price was $156.00. But then analysts went from a slight premium to a major premium because now the consensus analyst price target a week after earnings is just above $190. Some analysts are even brandishing price targets handily above $200.
This has to be all exciting for Alphabet investors. Now the stock just has to do one thing for those Oggonomics to become perma-bull. It just needs to keep the 2024 stock surge going. Keep in mind, even after the post-earnings pullback, Alphabet at the time of this publishing was up a whopping 19.5% year-to-date.
Alphabet’s impressive earnings report was also followed with a long-awaited dividend announcement. The king of search and ads also came with news of a $70 billion for addition share buybacks. Strong earnings, dividends, buybacks, all-time highs. And the stock doesn’t even act like antitrust regulatory attempts even matter… What more can a bull ask for?
THE ANALYST CALLS?
Tracking every single analyst call may be a fool’s errand. Still, you will see just how analysts have raised their price targets. And for a $167 share price as of this time, this is well above 10% more in upside to just the average analyst price target. And it’s over 20% in implied upside if the more bullish analyst price targets are hit. As a reminder, most analyst price targets are issued for roughly a 12-month outlook.
Here are the ratings that were reiterated, and the price target hikes tracked by the Oggonomics site.
Raymond James (Outperform) raised to $200 from $160.
J.P. Morgan (Overweight) raised its target to $200 from $165.
Wedbush (Outperform) raised to $205 from $175.
Jefferies (Buy) raised to $200 from $180.
KeyBanc (Overweight) raised to $175 from $165.
Citi (Buy) raised its target to $190 from $168.
Needham (Buy) raised its target to $210 from $160.
Barclays (overweight) raised its target to $200 from $173.
Susquehanna (Positive) raised its target to $225 from $179.
Argus (Buy) raised to $200 from $170.
Wolfe Research (Outperform) raised its target to $200 from $180.
Truist (Buy) raised its target to $190 from $170.
Stifel (Buy) raised its target to $196 from $174.
Canaccord Genuity (Buy) raised to $210 from $190.
BMO Capital (Outperform) raised to $215 from $185.
Bernstein (Market Perform) raised its target to $180 from $165.
Oppenheimer (Outperform) to $205 from $185.
TD Cowen (Buy) raised to $200 from $170.
RBC Capital Markets (Outperform) raised to $200 from $155.
Robert W. Baird ((Outperform) raised to $200 from $160.
STILL SOME SEMI-CAUTIOUS CALLS
Not everyone has monster price targets here.
Wells Fargo had maintained an Equal-Weight rating, but the price target was still raised to $168 from $141.
Loop Capital maintained its Hold rating but still raised its target price to $170 from $155.
Strategic BULL OR PERMA-BULL?
It really feels like the strategically bullish call for Alphabet is more of a “perma-bull” due to a continued positive analyst ratings and even more upside projections. Remember, this is all on top of a 20% year-to-date gain at current prices.
