When Alphabet agreed to buy fast growing cybersecurity firm Wiz in an all-cash $32 billion deal, investors were left to wonder whether it was a sign of balance sheet strength or growing competitive weakness. One big question for Google stock: will the Wiz purchase boost cloud computing market share versus Amazon.com and Microsoft?
Meanwhile, Google hosts an annual cloud computing conference from April 9 to April 11. Artificial intelligence news is expected to highlight the cloud computing event.
The impact of generative artificial intelligence on the internet search advertising business of Google stock remains top of mind for investors. Even before OpenAI's ChatGPT emerged, though, revenue growth in Google's core internet search advertising business was moderating.
Google Stock: Trump Tariff Impact
One worry for Google stock is that economists say chances for a U.S. recession are increasing amid Trump tariffs. And, spending on digital advertising could be impacted.
Wall Street analysts have lowered consensus estimates for Alphabet's first quarter earnings.
"Macro headwinds could dampen overall ad spend growth through remainder of 2025," said TD Cowen analyst John Blackledge in a report. He added that consumer sentiment is softening "per Conference Board index."
Google stock has retreated about 23% in 2025. Institutional ownership of GOOGL stock has waned.
Also, Google stock has dropped off the IBD Leaderboard. Also, Alphabet stock trades below its 50-day and 200-day moving averages and it continues to under-perform some Magnificent Seven stocks.
Meanwhile, antitrust lawsuits filed by the Department of Justice have pressured Google stock. Both Google's internet search and advertising businesses are under DoJ scrutiny.
Google Stock: OpenAI Competition
Further, Google stock fell on its Q4 earnings report amid higher-than-expected 2025 capital spending.
Like Amazon and Microsoft, Alphabet plans to continue high capital spending amid fierce competition in artificial intelligence. The emergence of Chinese startup DeepSeek has roiled artificial intelligence stocks.
Generative AI startup OpenAI's ChatGPT has been slowly gaining search market share. ChatGPT delivers answers to search queries while Google's business model has been based on providing web links. Also, startups Perplexity and Glean are new rivals. Glean is a developer of search chatbots for businesses.
Startup OpenAI claims that it now serves 400 million weekly active consumer users, up from 300 million in December 2024, reflecting significant acceleration in adoption. While OpenAI has not disclosed figures for paid consumer subscriptions, its enterprise usage figure has doubled since September 2024, reaching 2 million paying business users.
Google is competing with OpenAI, Anthropic, Facebook-parent Meta Platforms and many others in building new foundation models. In March, Google unveiled its new artificial intelligence model, Gemini 2.5.
Google began deploying AI Overviews in the U.S. in mid May, with conversational summaries topping links for many search queries. In late October, Google launched AI Overviews in 100 countries
The AI Overviews system uses Google's in-house Gemini AI model. Advertisers utilizing Gemini AI tools see increased traffic and click-through rates, especially among younger demographics, Google says.
GOOGL Stock: Waymo Expands
Meanwhile, Waymo on Dec. 5 announced that the company plans to expand its autonomous vehicle rideshare service to Miami in 2026. The Waymo One robotaxi service currently operates in Phoenix, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, with upcoming service already planned for Austin, Tex. and Atlanta. In Miami, Waymo will compete with Uber Technologies and other rideshare services. In Austin and Atlanta, Waymo is partnering with Uber.
Meanwhile, Waymo also disclosed that it has reached 150,000 trips per week, rapid growth from August levels at 100,00 per week. Waymo is widely viewed as the leader in autonomous vehicles. In October, Waymo closed a $5.6 billion funding round, including Google and previous investors. If Wall Street analysts start including Waymo in Alphabet's valuation, it would be a big development.
Meanwhile, Alphabet's Isomorphic Labs raised $600million from investor. Isomorphic Labs uses AI to discover drugs. Isomorphic Lab's valuation was not disclosed
Spun off by Alphabet in 2022, SandboxAQ closed a $450 million funding round with the addition of Ray Dalio and Nvidia as backers. SandboxAQ has raised nearly $1 billion in total. The company applies quantum technology and techniques to AI development. Alphabet retains a stake.
YouTube Vs. Netflix, TikTok
Also, analysts say GOOGL stock is getting a boost from the Performance Max advertising platform. It automates buying across YouTube, internet search, display, Gmail, maps and other applications. Performance Max lets advertisers manage campaigns across all Google ad inventory.
In terms of possible catalysts for Google stock, some analysts see upside from YouTube. At MoffetNathanson, analyst Michael Mathanson recently declared in a report: "We crown YouTube the 'New King of All Media'." He noted that in 2024, YouTube was the second-
largest media company by revenue at $54.2 billion, trailing only Walt Disney. He forecasts that YouTube will surpass Disney in 2025.
"If YouTube was a standalone business, public comparisons suggest the business would be worth $475 to $550 billion, or about 30% of Alphabet's current valuation," Nathanson said. "This leads us to the question of what's next and the untapped opportunity ahead. YouTube has the potential to become the central aggregator for all things professional video, positioning itself to capture a share of the $85 billion consumer pay TV market and the $30 billion streaming excluding Netflix market in the U.S."
Google aims to slow down the growth of TikTok with its own short video platform. How much money Google generates from YouTube Shorts is a key issue for 2025, analysts say.
GOOGL Stock: Is It A Buy Or Sell Now?
GOOGL stock popped 37% in 2024, though it pulled back from a high of 201.42 set on Dec. 17.
Whether the internet giant is a buy depends on fundamental and technical factors as well as each investor's own goals, strategy and risk tolerance.
Also, the Relative Strength Rating of Alphabet stock currently stands at only 31 out of a best-possible 99, according to IBD Stock Checkup. The best stocks tend to have an RS rating of 80 or better.
Google stock holds an Accumulation/Distribution Rating of E. That institutional ownership rating analyzes price and volume changes in a stock over the past 13 weeks of trading. A+ signifies heavy institutional buying; E means heavy selling. Think of a C grade as neutral.
Further, Alphabet stock holds an IBD Composite Rating of 72 out of a best possible 99. IBD's Composite Rating is a blend of key fundamental and technical metrics to help investors gauge a stock's strengths. The best growth stocks have a Composite Rating of 90 or better.
In the current, unpredictable market, IBD suggests stocks with ATRs of 3 or below.
Also, as of April 6, Alphabet stock needs to form a new base to be actionable, according to MarketSurge.
Follow Reinhardt Krause on X, formerly Twitter, @reinhardtk_tech for updates on artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and cloud computing.
