Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $6.47 EPS

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The information services provider reported $9.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $6.47, Zacks reports. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. The business had revenue of $119.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $117.07 billion.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL opened at $342.09 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $366.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $338.86. The stock has a market cap of $4.14 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.09, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 1.92. Alphabet has a one year low of $187.82 and a one year high of $408.61.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th were paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 8th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. This is an increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 6.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on GOOGL. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $425.00 target price on Alphabet and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. HSBC restated a “buy” rating and set a $420.00 price target (down from $435.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $425.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $455.00 target price (up from $435.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $415.98.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $341.72, for a total value of $153,432.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 27,348 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,345,358.56. This represents a 1.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.75, for a total value of $2,077,531.25. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 159,415 shares of company stock worth $7,672,279. Insiders own 11.61% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,534,239,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 855.3% during the 4th quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 14,525,280 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,546,413,000 after buying an additional 13,004,828 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in Alphabet by 28.0% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 53,107,572 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $12,910,542,000 after acquiring an additional 11,605,785 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in Alphabet by 15.7% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 50,732,476 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $12,333,076,000 after acquiring an additional 6,874,381 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mizuho Markets Cayman LP grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 23,402.1% in the third quarter. Mizuho Markets Cayman LP now owns 6,118,547 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,487,419,000 after purchasing an additional 6,092,513 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet reported blockbuster Q2 results, with EPS of $9.11 and revenue of $119.8 billion, both ahead of Wall Street estimates, while Google Cloud revenue surged and YouTube ad sales also grew solidly.
• Positive Sentiment: Google Cloud posted standout growth driven by enterprise AI demand, reinforcing that Alphabet’s AI investments are starting to translate into real business momentum.
• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts reiterated bullish views or raised price targets, arguing that strong core search and cloud businesses can support continued growth despite near-term spending pressure.
• Neutral Sentiment: Google said AI is boosting search usage and revenue, with search queries and search revenue still rising, which helps offset fears that AI would cannibalize the core search franchise.
• Neutral Sentiment: Google also released updated Gemini models and highlighted AI productivity benefits, but the flagship model remains delayed, leaving some uncertainty around execution in the AI race.
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet’s higher 2026 capex guidance and negative free cash flow sparked investor concern that AI spending is ramping faster than returns, pressuring the stock after earnings.
• Negative Sentiment: The company was also hit with a roughly $1 billion EU fine over its Play app store and search practices, adding regulatory overhang to the shares.

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.