Erste Group Bank Forecasts Stronger Earnings for Alphabet

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) – Equities research analysts at Erste Group Bank boosted their FY2026 earnings estimates for Alphabet in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, August 27th. Erste Group Bank analyst H. Engel now expects that the information services provider will post earnings of $20.56 per share for the year, up from their prior forecast of $20.50. The consensus estimate for Alphabet’s current full-year earnings is $20.50 per share. Erste Group Bank also issued estimates for Alphabet’s FY2027 earnings at $14.95 EPS.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $6.22. Alphabet had a net margin of 54.77% and a return on equity of 51.32%. The firm had revenue of $119.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $117.07 billion.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on the company. DZ Bank raised Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Arete Research increased their price objective on Alphabet from $405.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Mizuho raised their target price on Alphabet from $420.00 to $460.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. BMO Capital Markets set a $465.00 target price on Alphabet and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $395.00 target price (down from $445.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $420.19.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $335.02 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.10 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.83, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.24. The business’s 50 day moving average is $349.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $342.18. Alphabet has a 12-month low of $206.20 and a 12-month high of $408.61. The company has a current ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 2.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Investors of record on Monday, September 7th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4.42%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 196,931 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.46, for a total transaction of $3,832,277.26. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.20, for a total value of $149,606.80. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 27,386 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,125,015.20. The trade was a 1.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 451,925 shares of company stock valued at $12,371,544. Company insiders own 11.61% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. EMC Capital Management purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Bard Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $52,000. Finally, iSAM Funds UK Ltd purchased a new position in Alphabet during the third quarter worth $53,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Reports indicate Google could release Gemini 3.8 Flash this week. Internal testing reportedly shows meaningful improvement in coding, an area where Alphabet has trailed Anthropic and OpenAI. A stronger model could improve Google’s AI product competitiveness and investor confidence. New Google AI Model Said to Narrow Gap on Coding Ability
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet-owned Waymo began offering paid autonomous rides in Denver, San Diego and Tampa, expanding its commercial service to 14 U.S. cities. The rollout strengthens Alphabet’s position in the emerging robotaxi market and creates a potential long-term growth opportunity beyond advertising and cloud computing. Waymo accelerates robotaxi expansion
• Positive Sentiment: Google agreed to purchase 396 megawatts of geothermal power from Fervo Energy’s Utah project. The deal supports the electricity needs of Alphabet’s expanding AI data-center infrastructure while providing greater visibility into its strategy for securing reliable, lower-carbon power. Fervo geothermal power deal with Google
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet introduced Google Pics, an AI-powered image creation and editing tool for Google Workspace and premium AI subscribers. The product could broaden monetization, but its near-term financial impact is uncertain. Google Pics AI design tool
• Neutral Sentiment: Android accessibility and personalization updates, along with Google Maps’ adoption of the “Lake America” name, increase product visibility but are unlikely to materially affect Alphabet’s earnings.
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned that OpenAI’s rapidly expanding advertising business could eventually pressure Google Search, Alphabet’s core profit engine. Reports of employee departures and a continuing AI talent race add to uncertainty around execution. OpenAI advertising threat to Google Search
• Negative Sentiment: EU regulators are questioning Google’s proposed AI-search opt-out policy, while recent European concessions and a £260 million U.K. app-store settlement reinforce concerns about regulatory costs and potential damage to search and platform economics. EU regulators question Google AI-search policy

Alphabet Company Profile

Alphabet Inc is the holding company created in 2015 to organize Google and a portfolio of businesses developing technologies beyond Google’s core internet services. Its principal operations are led by Google, which builds and operates consumer-facing products such as Google Search, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Gmail, Google Maps and Google Workspace, as well as advertising platforms (Google Ads and AdSense) that historically generate the majority of its revenue. Google also develops consumer hardware (Pixel phones, Nest smart-home devices, Chromecast) and developer and distribution platforms such as Google Play.

Beyond Google’s consumer and advertising businesses, Alphabet invests in enterprise and infrastructure offerings through Google Cloud, which provides cloud computing, data analytics and productivity services to businesses and institutions.