FY2026 EPS Estimates for Alphabet Lifted by Erste Group Bank

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) – Analysts at Erste Group Bank upped their FY2026 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Alphabet in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, March 24th. Erste Group Bank analyst H. Engel now expects that the information services provider will post earnings per share of $11.48 for the year, up from their previous forecast of $11.44. 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 $13.41 EPS.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued 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 business 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%.

Several other research analysts also recently issued reports on GOOGL. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $360.00 price objective (up from $315.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $279.00 to $357.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Arete Research boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $380.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. DZ Bank restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, February 16th. Finally, HSBC raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $335.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-three have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $367.18.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $290.93 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $315.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $294.43. Alphabet has a 12 month low of $140.53 and a 12 month high of $349.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.52 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.91, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder 2017 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 1,845,308 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Friday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.00, for a total transaction of $35,060,852.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.41, for a total transaction of $318,580.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 4,631 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,405,091.71. The trade was a 18.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 2,110,165 shares of company stock worth $118,134,117 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet in the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. EMC Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. PMV Capital Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support: Alphabet is among stocks that have received multiple analyst upgrades and raised price targets after strong AI and cloud results, underpinning longer‑term upside expectations. Zacks: Alphabet is a strong growth stock
• Positive Sentiment: Gemini monetization / retail tie‑ups: Gap will enable checkout inside Google’s Gemini, a step toward direct commerce monetization for the AI platform. This could help diversify revenue beyond search advertising. CNBC: Gap becomes first to offer checkout within Gemini
• Positive Sentiment: Cloud & partnerships: New deals — Openreach using Google AI to speed fibre rollout and BMO/CME launching a tokenized cash platform on Google Cloud — highlight enterprise demand for Google Cloud services and potential revenue tailwinds. Reuters: Openreach taps Google AI Reuters: BMO to launch tokenized cash platform with CME and Google Cloud
• Neutral Sentiment: Robotics / AI roadmap: DeepMind/Google partnership activity (e.g., Agile Robots) signals long‑term AI/robotics ambitions but is capital‑intensive and will take time to monetize. CNBC: Google partners with Agile Robots
• Neutral Sentiment: Regulatory/market structure watch: EU antitrust meetings with Big Tech and Google’s initiative in India to label verified investment apps are regulatory items to monitor — could mean more oversight but also proactive controls limiting consumer harm. Reuters: EU antitrust chief meets tech CEOs Reuters: Google to label verified investment apps in India
• Negative Sentiment: Landmark LA verdict — legal overhang: A Los Angeles jury found Google’s YouTube (and Meta’s Instagram) negligent in a youth social‑media addiction case, awarding compensatory damages and moving to a punitive phase. The decision creates precedent risk, could spur additional suits, and has been cited as a near‑term driver of selling pressure. Reuters: Jury reaches verdict in Meta, Google trial BusinessWire: $3M compensatory verdict
• Negative Sentiment: Macro/earnings risk: Investors remain concerned about Alphabet’s very large 2026 capex guidance, rising energy costs for AI/data centers, and a recent pullback in the stock — factors that could compress near‑term returns despite long‑term growth potential. Barron’s: Google stock slides toward bear market territory

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.