FY2026 EPS Estimates for Alphabet Raised by Erste Group Bank

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) – Analysts at Erste Group Bank raised their FY2026 earnings per share estimates for shares of Alphabet in a report issued on Monday, July 27th. Erste Group Bank analyst H. Engel now expects that the information services provider will post earnings of $20.50 per share for the year, up from their prior forecast of $14.27. The consensus estimate for Alphabet’s current full-year earnings is $20.15 per share.

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

Several other equities analysts have also commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Freedom Capital raised Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. HSBC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $420.00 price objective (down from $435.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Citigroup restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Susquehanna reiterated a “positive” rating and issued a $460.00 target price (up from $400.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $419.86.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $336.71 on Thursday. Alphabet has a 52-week low of $187.82 and a 52-week high of $408.61. The company’s 50 day moving average is $359.40 and its 200 day moving average is $339.14. The firm has a market cap of $4.08 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.91, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 2.64, a current ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 110,330 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $20,886,000 after buying an additional 4,110 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 14,930 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,826,000 after acquiring an additional 506 shares during the last quarter. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 17.6% in the 2nd quarter. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY now owns 3,888 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $685,000 after acquiring an additional 581 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 11.2% in the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 485,486 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $85,557,000 after acquiring an additional 48,805 shares during the period. Finally, United Bank raised its position in Alphabet by 6.9% in the 2nd quarter. United Bank now owns 48,204 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $8,495,000 after purchasing an additional 3,120 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Frances Arnold sold 112 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $351.28, for a total transaction of $39,343.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 18,833 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,615,656.24. The trade was a 0.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.20, for a total value of $149,606.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 27,386 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,125,015.20. This represents a 1.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 600,465 shares of company stock valued at $16,228,202 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 11.61% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

More Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst sentiment is improving. Phillip Securities upgraded Alphabet, while KeyCorp maintained an “Overweight” rating and a $445 price target. KeyCorp also sharply raised its 2026 EPS forecast, and Erste Group increased its 2027 estimate. Alphabet analyst upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s latest quarter remained fundamentally strong: revenue increased 24% to $119.8 billion, earnings substantially exceeded estimates, search revenue grew 17%, and Google Cloud growth accelerated to 82%. The results support the view that AI is strengthening—not yet materially damaging—the company’s advertising and cloud businesses. Alphabet quarterly results analysis
• Positive Sentiment: Investors are also focused on potential new growth from Alphabet’s internally developed AI chips, which could begin generating external revenue by year-end. Google’s expansion of age-assurance tools for Android developers and progress restoring Waymo freeway service provide additional, though smaller, strategic positives. Alphabet AI silicon opportunity
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent insider activity shows Marsida Saraci selling 449 shares worth about $150,000, while major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv disclosed several sales. The transactions may weigh modestly on sentiment, but they represent a small portion of ongoing holdings and are not conclusive evidence of weaker business prospects. Alphabet insider sale
• Negative Sentiment: The principal overhang is Alphabet’s raised 2026 capital-expenditure outlook of $195 billion to $205 billion. Heavy server investment could pressure free cash flow and increase depreciation beginning in 2027, intensifying doubts about whether AI returns will justify the spending. Alphabet capital spending outlook
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet also faces risks from lower-cost AI models, potential European damages claims following an antitrust ruling, and reported restructuring within Google DeepMind. These concerns help explain why the stock has declined from its high despite excellent operating results.

About Alphabet

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.