Analysts bumped up price targets on Alphabet Inc following Q4 Beat and stock split. Alphabet stock split adds pressure on Amazon.com Inc 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 percent 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 percent 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 percent upside) and reiterated an Outperform.
Alphabet reported “strong” Q4 results, with revenue growth of 33 percent, 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 percent 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 percent 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 percent upside).
Canaccord raised the PT to $3500 from $3350.
Monness Crespi raised the PT to $3,850 from $3,660 (39.6 percent upside).
