Analysts bumped up price targets on Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) following Q4 Beat and stock split. Alphabet stock split adds pressure on Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN) to follow suit, said Morgan Stanley.
- JPMorgan ups Alphabet target but 'not chasing the shares.'
- Jefferies analyst Brent Thill raised the PT to $3,600 from $3,500 (30.5% upside) and reiterated a Buy.
- Thill said "another strong quarter at scale" that was driven by the company's "massive and diverse audience reach," combined with its expanding and innovative portfolio of ad formats. Buybacks reached $50B in 2021, and he estimates $17B remains authorized for additional share repurchases, adding that he would expect an additional authorization in the first half of this year.
- Wells Fargo raised the PT to $3,600 from $3,400.
- Cowen raised the PT to $3600 from $3500
- Mizuho analyst James Lee raised the PT to $3,600 from $3,350 and maintained a Buy.
- The company's website revenues growth came in 7 points ahead of expectations at 34% year-over-year due to strong holiday demand and limited impact from ad privacy policy, driven by strength in new product Performance Max, increased omnichannel shopping demand, and a mix shift from TV ad spending.
- Raymond James analyst Aaron Kessler raised the PT to $3,630 from $3,400 (31.6% upside) and reiterated an Outperform.
- Alphabet reported "strong" Q4 results, with revenue growth of 33%, driven by solid performance across Search, YouTube, Network, and Google Cloud.
- Bernstein analyst Mark Shmulik said that Google kept pace with last week's tech mega-cap prints.
- Those hiding out in the name "can breathe a sigh of relief," as Google turned in one of the best performances the analyst has seen from a tech company in 2021.
- But as he noted recently, "there's icebergs ahead here," and the analyst is starting to see these pressures affect non-Search-related businesses. The answer of whether these headwinds can be managed remains a crucial unknown as outlook commentary remained guarded, though this management team has earned his trust.
- KeyBanc analyst Andy Hargreaves raised the PT to $3,400 from $3,090 (23.3% upside) and reiterated an Overweight.
- The analyst believes Alphabet's Q4 results reinforce model resilience and the benefits of scale. While the degree of Search's deceleration and the step-up in Capex and Opex investment continue to screen as margin and free cash flows headwinds, Hargreaves is more confident that GAAP EPS can exceed $130 in 2023 and valuation is not overly demanding.
- Susquehanna analyst Shyam Patil raised the PT to $3750 from $3600 (36% upside) and maintained a Positive.
- The analyst said The Q3 dynamics generally continued into Q4, as Search again excelled, but YouTube was more modest, partially due to the ongoing impacts from iOS 14.
- Credit Suisse raised the PT to $3,500 from $3,400 (26.9% upside).
- Canaccord raised the PT to $3500 from $3350.
- Monness Crespi raised the PT to $3,850 from $3,660 (39.6% upside).
- Price Action: GOOG shares traded higher by 8.95% at $3,005.60 in the premarket session on the last check Wednesday.
