FY2026 EPS Estimates for Alphabet Raised by Erste Group Bank

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) – Investment analysts at Erste Group Bank lifted their FY2026 EPS estimates for shares of Alphabet in a report issued on Wednesday, February 18th. Erste Group Bank analyst H. Engel now anticipates that the information services provider will post earnings of $11.44 per share for the year, up from their previous estimate of $11.26. The consensus estimate for Alphabet’s current full-year earnings is $8.90 per share. Erste Group Bank also issued estimates for Alphabet’s FY2027 earnings at $13.31 EPS.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on GOOGL. Argus boosted their target price on Alphabet from $365.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Wolfe Research lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $380.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. CICC Research boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $240.00 to $303.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Loop Capital raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $320.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $395.00 price target (up from $346.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-three have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $366.57.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.2%

GOOGL stock opened at $310.90 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 2.01 and a quick ratio of 2.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.76 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.09. Alphabet has a fifty-two week low of $140.53 and a fifty-two week high of $349.00. The business has a 50-day moving average of $320.47 and a 200-day moving average of $281.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $113.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.24 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.01% and a net margin of 32.81%.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 9th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.77%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder 2017 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 1,845,308 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.00, for a total transaction of $35,060,852.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.92, for a total value of $9,877,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,818,524 shares in the company, valued at approximately $856,605,814.08. This trade represents a 1.14% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 2,112,482 shares of company stock worth $119,145,289 in the last three months. Insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the second quarter valued at about $31,000. PMV Capital Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Bard Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $52,000. Finally, Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter worth approximately $53,000. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

More Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrades and higher price targets provide near-term support — Loop Capital raised its price target to $355 and Wells Fargo moved to a more constructive stance, boosting buy-side momentum. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Waymo commercialization expands — Waymo is rolling out robotaxi service to multiple new U.S. markets (Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Orlando), which supports a pathway to revenue growth for Alphabet’s autonomous-vehicle unit. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Big data-center energy deals lower operational risk for AI/cloud buildout — Google announced a 1.9GW clean-power-backed Minnesota project that includes a 300MW / 100-hour battery, and utilities/energy firms signed long-term supply deals for new Google sites, improving power resiliency for Cloud/AI capacity. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Hidden assets and ecosystem stakes add optionality — Alphabet’s strategic holdings (notably ~14% of Anthropic and an early SpaceX stake) plus Gemini integrations (including reported Apple interest) are underappreciated upside drivers for Cloud, AI licensing and potential mark-to-market gains. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Industry capex race: Bridgewater sees ~$650B in Big Tech AI investment for 2026 — this underscores continued capacity expansion that benefits hyperscalers but increases execution/timing uncertainty. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: AI chip competition heats up — WSJ coverage highlights intensifying GPU/custom-chip rivalry (Google vs. Nvidia and others), a structural trend that affects margins, procurement and product differentiation. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Notable investor rotations and selling — reports show Renaissance trimmed a large position (~$700M sale) and some high-profile funds reduced exposure, which can weigh on intraday flows and dampen momentum. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Legal and regulatory risks persist — Klarna expects a Swedish court verdict related to Google patents on April 15, adding event risk for the stock. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: AI capex funded with debt raises investor caution — coverage warns hyperscalers (including Alphabet) are increasing AI-related spending and in some cases using debt, which shifts risk and could pressure valuations if returns take longer than expected. Read More.

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.