Google's AI Advancements Boost Stock and Investor Confidence

Alphabet hits near three-month high on new AI updates

May 22 (Reuters) - Alphabet (GOOGL.O), opens new tab shares jumped 4% on Thursday, rising for a second straight day, as investors cheered the Google parent's artificial intelligence updates including the rolling out of "AI Mode" to all its U.S. users. A $249.99-a-month subscription for its AI power users, teased at its annual developer conference, also allayed concerns over funding the huge costs of the company's AI development. After the conference, "we are incrementally confident that Google can deliver continued search growth while ramping monetization suggesting improving execution," Citi analyst Ronald Josey wrote in a note. CEO Sundar Pichai said the rise of generative AI was not at the full expense of online search amid concerns about a behavioral change where users were turning to AI chatbots from search engines. In a major update, the company signaled that customers across the U.S. now can switch Google Search into "AI Mode." A Google search team executive also said using AI to answer tougher questions could open up new ways to show more relevant and useful ads. Ads make up the majority of Google's revenue. "We believe monetization of AI Mode is likely to 'soon' follow the U.S. launch," Josey said. Class C shares of Alphabet were up 4% at 175.27, trading at levels last seen three months ago. The stock is down about 7% so far this year. Reporting by Medha Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab Suggested Topics:Artificial Intelligence

Google's AI announcements has analysts excited about the tech giant's path ahead

Alphabet's latest artificial intelligence offering has analysts on Wall Street standing by their optimistic view of the stock. The company unveiled a suite of AI-powered tools at its Google IO developer conference on Tuesday that are available via $249.99 per month subscription called "Google AI Ultra ." The service includes higher usage limits, which will allow users to access the full capability of Google's large language model Gemini, as well as new initiatives like its AI film making tool Flow and 30 terabytes of storage. The plan also includes a YouTube Premium subscription. The rollout comes as Alphabet is racing to further monetize AI products and services. Head of product incubator Google Labs and the Gemini app Josh Woodward labeled the suite as the "VIP pass for Google AI." GOOGL 1D mountain Alphabet stock on Wednesday. Here's what analysts on Wall Street are saying on the heels of the Google IO event. Shares were marginally higher in premarket trading on Wednesday. Evercore ISI, outperform rating, $205 per share price target Analyst Mark Mahaney's price target calls for more than 25% upside from Tuesday's $163.98 close. "We don't believe there will be only one AI winner, but we think Google has successfully proven that it will remain a leader in the AI race. Our two biggest takeaways from this I/O are: 1) Google continues to show a high level of innovation across all fronts; and 2) AI Overviews boosting 'overview-type' search queries by roughly 10% in the U.S. and India suggests to us that instead of disrupting Google Search, AI may actually accelerate it," the analyst said. Morgan Stanley, overweight rating, $185 per share price target Analyst Brian Nowak's price target implies nearly 13% upside for Alphabet stock. "We believe the value of scaled first party data and distribution is higher than ever ... and GOOGL I/O showcased how the company intends to leverage its leading user bases and distribution to drive next generation more personalized 'search,' and agentic experiences," Nowak said. "With time, we see these offerings leading to incremental sources of consumer utility, commercial query volume and monetization for GOOGL." Bank of America, buy rating, $200 per share price target Analyst Justin Post posited that Google's race to catch its peers in the large language model race may be ending for the firm. His $200 per share price target calls for about 22% upside. "Given [third-party] benchmarks, and slowing LLM innovation, we think the catch-up phase for Google's LLM capabilities is coming to an end," the analyst said. Citizens, market perform rating, no price target Analyst Andrew Boone said that Google's latest AI push doesn't provide enough of a tailwind to offset potential concerns from its antitrust troubles as well as declining search queries. "While we come away from I/O believing search is able to increasingly cover more queries and tasks, the monetization required of Google's distribution contracts (including Apple's) and from public investors leads us to believe Google will continue to offer an inferior search product to ChatGPT's as we worry that Google search revenue faces headwinds over the next few years," the analyst said. Citi, buy rating, $200 per share price target Citi analyst Ronald Josey said that Google's I/O can separate itself from rising competition by defining itself by personalizing user experiences. "With AI Mode going live in the U.S., the Gemini App reaching 400M MAUs [monthly active users] (vs. ~350M in March), and AI Overviews delivering query growth, we believe GOOGL's product cadence and user adoption of newer tools is ramping which should provide some stability for Search growth," the analyst said. "The core underlying theme of I/O, in our view, was the focus on creating a more personalized user experience as Google builds out the Agentic experience on Mariner, Astra, and Gemini App products and launches its version of AI glasses." Goldman Sachs, buy rating, $220 per share price target Goldman's forecast implies roughly 34% upside for Alphabet stock. "We came away from the keynote presentation increasingly constructive on Alphabet's long-term strategic positioning across many end-markets (both consumer & enterprise-facing; search & non-search) and continue to see the company as the leading collection of AI/machine learning-driven businesses in our coverage universe," analyst Eric Sheridan said.

Google Parent Alphabet's Stock Is Rising Amid Growing Optimism About AI Search

Google also unveiled a $249.99 per month AI subscription service that Bank of America expects to be competitive with OpenAI's ChatGPT Pro. Shares of Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL) surged Wednesday amid growing optimism about the tech giant's AI search capabilities in the wake of Google's I/O conference keynote and rollout of its "AI mode" offering in the U.S. "We come away more confident that Google can successfully navigate the shift to AI Search," JPMorgan analysts said following the event. The analysts reiterated an "overweight" rating and $195 price target, just above the analyst consensus of $194 compiled by Visible Alpha. Shares of the Google parent were up close to 5% near $172 in recent trading, with JPMorgan's target suggesting roughly 13% upside. Alphabet shares have lost about 10% so far in 2025. Google I/O underscored the capabilities of the tech giant's Gemini large language model, Bank of America said. "With an improved LLM and growing AI integration benefits across products, we see [Google's] AI assets as underappreciated," the bank said in a note to clients. I/O also saw the unveiling of Google AI Ultra, a new $249.99 subscription service that offers access to Google's most advanced AI tools, including Gemini 2.5 Pro Deep Think mode for research and the AI filmmaking tool Flow. Google AI Ultra "should be competitive" with OpenAI's $200 per month ChatGPT Pro offering, BofA analysts said. The bank maintained a price target of $200. Meanwhile, Morgan Stanley and Citi analysts reiterated targets of $185 and $200, respectively.

Google's AI Proves It's Boosting, Not Disrupting, Legacy Ad Monetization: Analyst - Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Goldman Sachs analyst Eric Sheridan maintained a Buy rating on Alphabet Inc GOOG GOOGL with a price forecast of $220 on Thursday. Sheridan said that expanding upon its recent AI announcements, Google's Marketing Live keynote outlined Alphabet's vision for launching AI tools and services in the context of digital advertising. The analyst noted that Google continues to repeat how AI can help increase ad spending performance across its suite of products. Also Read: Analyst Cautions On Snap As Meta And Google Benefit From Ad Spending Shifts With respect to Search, Google continues to showcase how search is evolving with AI and provided disclosures around increasing usage, engagement and monetization of these AI features, the analyst noted. Further, Google's new AI Max for Search Campaigns highlights how AI can enhance advertisers' reach and conversions in existing search campaigns. Per the analyst, this progress is a continued positive proof point against heightened investor concerns that AI may disrupt the monetization potential of its legacy formats and platforms over the long term. For rich media formats, this keynote and Google's recent Brandcast Upfront event showcased how Google plans to leverage its scale and position to capitalize on evolving consumer habits and the rise of creator content to introduce new solutions for advertisers. Specifically, Sheridan noted Google's recent announcements around new ad formats, generative AI for ad creative, unique content, and a unique scale of users, highlighting how the company is increasingly well-positioned to capitalize on evolving streaming and digital video trends over the long term. As outlined in Sheridan's recently updated 10 Internet Themes for 2025, digital advertising is one of the few subsectors within his coverage where AI is seeing early adoption and monetization. Against this backdrop, the analyst noted Alphabet is well positioned to capitalize on the theme of AI longer-term, given its leading AI capabilities, infrastructure advantage, and benefits of scale concerning both users and advertisers to deploy new AI tools & services over the medium term. He remained constructive on the mix of Alphabet's businesses and their operating profile in the coming years. Sheridan projected fiscal 2025 revenue of $325.8 billion and EPS of $9.21. Price Action: GOOGL stock is trading higher by 2.85% to $173.36 at last check Thursday. Read Next: Cisco Unveils Quantum Chip And Lab To Push Next-Gen Networking Image by JHVEPhoto via Shutterstock GOOGLAlphabet Inc$173.192.74%Stock Score Locked: Edge Members Only Benzinga Rankings give you vital metrics on any stock - anytime. Unlock RankingsEdge RankingsMomentum43.95Growth88.68Quality82.97Value51.94Price TrendShortMediumLongOverviewGOOGAlphabet Inc$174.442.58%Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs

Alphabet Stock 'Fairly Valued': Analysts See AI Disrupt As Tailwind - Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Analysts break down the potential impact of new products and features from Alphabet Inc. GOOGGOOGL on the stock following the company's I/O developer conference. The Alphabet Analysts: Citizens analyst Andrew Boone maintained a Market Perform rating on Alphabet with no price target. JPMorgan analyst Doug Anmuth reiterated an Overweight rating with a $195 price target. Goldman Sachs analyst Eric Sheridan reiterated a Buy rating with a $200 price target. Read Also: Alphabet Q1 Earnings Highlights: Google Search, YouTube, Cloud Show 'Robust Momentum' Citizens on GOOGL: The I/O conference showed that artificial intelligence is improving every part of Google and the company's digital consumer experience, Boone said in a new investor note. "I/O offers a glimpse into the future of AI-powered digital user experiences as AI advancements are driving more synthesization of information, agentic actions that are automating more of the consumer purchase journey," Boone said. The analyst said new experiences like real-time translation and media creation could help Alphabet in its AI journey. "We view AI as a tailwind for all forms of digital consumptions including media, commerce and services." Boone said the concern is that competition for search is increasing and the U.S. search anti-trust trial is an overhang on Alphabet. The analyst said ChatGPT could be taking market share away. "We believe commercial queries remain with Google, but the habituation of users to a different search experience should worry Google." The analyst said Google is quickly rolling out its AI Mode, but its search business and revenue still face headwinds over the next few years. "We believe shares are fairly valued at current levels." JPMorgan on GOOGL: The Google I/O conference has Anmuth feeling "incrementally positive" about Alphabet. "We believe Google is leading in many areas of AI with Gemini at the top of foundational model leaderboards," Anmuth said. The analyst said Google's product innovation is "accelerating" and new products and experiences are being launched faster than ever. "We believe Google's 'total reimagining of search' is taking shape as AI Mode integrates what have been somewhat disparate AI products." Anmuth said the road ahead is competitive, but Google shows confidence it can "navigate the shift to AI Search." The analyst said AI Overviews, which were announced at I/O in 2024, have scaled to more than 1.5 billion monthly users and are driving improved satisfaction and engagement. Anmuth said AI Mode could have a similar impact on Google's search business. "We believe Alphabet's fundamentals are solid and the company will remain both a driver of and primary beneficiary of an increasingly digital economy & advances in Generative AI." Goldman Sachs on GOOGL: The company's I/O keynote showed acceleration in AI innovation, Sheridan said in a new investor note. "Building off its AI progress over the past several years, Google's I/O Keynote showcased a number of new products, services and features across its suite of products," Sheridan said. The analyst said the new AI progress in shown across many business lines and could point to the company's long-term vision of having Gemini AI capabilities into many user experiences across consumer and enterprise services. Sheridan said Google's event and the launch of AI Mode comes with investors having more fear about the potential disruption of traditional search from the rise of AI. "These innovations showcase how the company is well-positioned across a wide array of form factors & user interfaces that cover how AI-powered search may evolve over time." The analyst said Alphabet is a leader in the AI and machine learning space. "We came away from the keynote presentation increasingly constructive on Alphabet's long-term strategic positioning across many end-markets." GOOGL Price Action: Alphabet stock is up 4.61% to $171.50 on Wednesday versus a 52-week trading range of $140.53 to $207.05. Alphabet stock is down 9.3% year-to-date and down around 3% over the last year. Read Next: 'This Is The First Time In Two Decades That Google Is Extremely Vulnerable:' Perplexity's CEO Breaks Down Search Giant's Margin Trap Photo: Shutterstock GOOGLAlphabet Inc$171.504.59%Stock Score Locked: Edge Members Only Benzinga Rankings give you vital metrics on any stock - anytime. Unlock RankingsEdge RankingsMomentum34.94Growth88.76Quality82.99Value52.75Price TrendShortMediumLongOverviewGOOGAlphabet Inc$172.924.60%Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs

Alphabet Shares Gain Following Annual Developer Conference: What's Going On? - Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Alphabet Inc GOOGL GOOG shares are on the rise, trading up by 1.81% to $173.16 on Thursday afternoon. Thursday's strength is likely a result of the tech giant's annual developer conference this week, where it revealed the Veo 3 upgrade to its AI video generation tool. The conference also saw Alphabet's CEO, Sundar Pichai, announce the launch of a new "AI Mode," a feature that offers a conversational, chatbot-style experience similar to OpenAI's ChatGPT. This update, which is now available for U.S. users across Search and Chrome, signifies Google's aggressive push into generative AI. What To Know: The annual I/O developer conference showcased Alphabet's commitment to AI, with the unveiling of several new offerings. These include the AI Ultra Plan at $249.99 per month, Project Mariner for browser automation and Deep Think, a high-level reasoning AI. Read Also: Big Tax Cuts, Big Deficits: Wall Street Winners And Losers Emerge Despite concerns about potential cannibalization of ad revenue, analysts from JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs reiterated bullish outlooks, citing Alphabet's leadership in AI and faster product rollout. Why It Matters: Alphabet's AI-centric upgrades, such as Gemini 2.5, real-time translation and media creation, highlight its long-term vision for AI. With AI now at the heart of its ecosystem, Alphabet is well-positioned to maintain its dominance in the Search sector. Analysts from Citizens, JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs offered their insights on Alphabet's new products and features. Citizens analyst Andrew Boone maintained a Market Perform rating on Alphabet with no price target. JPMorgan's Doug Anmuth reiterated an Overweight rating on the stock with a $195 price target, while Goldman Sachs' Eric Sheridan reiterated a Buy rating on the stock with a $200 price target. Read Also: Palantir Stock Is Trading Higher Thursday: What's Going On? Boone noted that the I/O conference demonstrated how AI is enhancing every aspect of Google and improving the company's digital consumer experience. However, he also expressed concern about increasing competition for search and the U.S. search anti-trust trial's impact on Alphabet. Anmuth, on the other hand, felt "incrementally positive" about Alphabet after the Google I/O conference. He pointed out that Google's product innovation is "accelerating" and new products and experiences are being launched faster than ever. Sheridan highlighted the acceleration in AI innovation demonstrated in the company's I/O keynote. He believes Alphabet is a leader in the AI and machine learning space and is well-positioned across many end-markets. Read Next: Trump's 'Big Beautiful Bill' Could Be $3.1 Trillion Jackpot For Affluent Americans Like Elon Musk And Jeff Bezos: Report How To Buy GOOGL Stock By now you're likely curious about how to participate in the market for Alphabet - be it to purchase shares, or even attempt to bet against the company. Buying shares is typically done through a brokerage account. You can find a list of possible trading platforms here. Many will allow you to buy "fractional shares," which allows you to own portions of stock without buying an entire share. If you're looking to bet against a company, the process is more complex. You'll need access to an options trading platform, or a broker who will allow you to "go short" a share of stock by lending you the shares to sell. The process of shorting a stock can be found at this resource. Otherwise, if your broker allows you to trade options, you can either buy a put option, or sell a call option at a strike price above where shares are currently trading - either way it allows you to profit off of the share price decline. According to data from Benzinga Pro, GOOGL has a 52-week high of $207.05 and a 52-week low of $140.53. Photo: Shutterstock GOOGLAlphabet Inc$171.861.96%Stock Score Locked: Edge Members Only Benzinga Rankings give you vital metrics on any stock - anytime. Unlock RankingsEdge RankingsMomentum43.95Growth88.68Quality82.97Value51.94Price TrendShortMediumLongOverviewGOOGAlphabet Inc$173.121.80% This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors. Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs

Google I/O 2025 A 'Big Deal,' Says Gene Munster: Sundar Pichai's Alphabet Has No Choice But To Disrupt Itself Before Someone Else Does - Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG), Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Alphabet Inc.'s GOOG GOOGL annual developer conference, Google I/O 2025, will kick off tomorrow, May 20, and run through May 21 at the Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View, California. On Monday, one top analyst said the stakes couldn't be higher for the company's future in search. What Happened: In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Deepwater Asset Management's Gene Munster called Google's developer conference a "big deal," underscoring the pressure on the company to modernize search before competitors do. "It's the company's chance to prove it's not afraid of the innovator's dilemma and that it's willing to take bold, outside-the-box steps to stay relevant in generative AI without blowing up the business model that built it," Munster stated. See Also: Sundar Pichai Reveals Google-Parent Once Super Intensely Debated About Buying Netflix: 'In A World Of Butterfly Effects...' He noted that with competition from OpenAI's ChatGPT, Anthropic's Claude and xAI's Grok, users are spending less time on traditional search. While AI Overviews have boosted some usage, the overall growth in Search is slowing. The core tension: users want quick, direct AI answers, not pages of blue links. "I still don't know how they thread the needle between giving consumers what they want (a simple trusted answer) while still giving investors what they want (revenue growth with continued high margins)," Munster noted. Why It's Important: Alphabet Inc. reported first-quarter revenue of $90.23 billion, marking a 12% increase from the same period last year and surpassing the consensus estimate of $89.2 billion, according to Benzinga Pro. Get StartedEarn 7.2% -- No Matter What the Fed Does Markets expect rate cuts -- but your earnings don't have to suffer. Lock in 7.2% until 2028 from ten individual bonds. Get Started Revenue from Google Search reached $50.7 billion, up from $46.2 billion a year ago, while total advertising revenue climbed to $66.9 billion from $61.7 billion in the previous year. Google I/O has long served as the platform for debuting key software innovations, such as the latest Android releases and strides in AI. At last year's event, Google introduced Gemini Live along with several AI-powered capabilities. This year, AI is likely to be the main focus once more. The Sundar Pichai-led company is anticipated to reveal fresh updates to its Gemini AI, introduce Android 16 and roll out enhancements across Google Search, Assistant and Workspace. Price Action: Alphabet Inc.'s Class A shares declined 12.08% year-to-date, while Class C decreased by 11.94%. According to Benzinga Edge Stock Rankings, Alphabet holds a growth score of 66.98%. Click here to see how it measures up against other firms. Photo Courtesy: JHVEPhoto on Shutterstock.com Read Next: Mark Zuckerberg Warns Of 'Serious Disadvantage' As China's Data-Center Blitz Could Let DeepSeek Leapfrog US AI Labs Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of Benzinga Neuro and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors. GOOGAlphabet Inc$168.350.55%Stock Score Locked: Edge Members Only Benzinga Rankings give you vital metrics on any stock - anytime. Unlock RankingsEdge RankingsMomentum38.90Growth66.98Quality81.70Value52.50Price TrendShortMediumLongOverviewGOOGLAlphabet Inc$167.100.55%Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs

'This Is The First Time In Two Decades That Google Is Extremely Vulnerable:' Perplexity's CEO Breaks Down Search Giant's Margin Trap - Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG), Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Perplexity AI CEO Aravind Srinivas believes search giant Google is currently at its most vulnerable since its founding over two decades ago, caught between its legacy dominance in search advertising and the fast-moving disruption of AI-native search. What Happened: During the Sohn Investment Conference 2025 in New York last week, Srinivas did not hold back while saying, "This is the first time in two decades that Google is extremely vulnerable," citing Alphabet Inc.'s GOOG GOOGL heavy reliance on ultra-high-margin search advertising as a strategic liability in the current AI arms race. While the company has diversified extensively over the years, across YouTube, Cloud, and even hardware, Srinivas argues that none of them are comparable in profitability. "YouTube is not a high-margin business... cloud is not a high-margin business... same thing with AI," he said. See Also: US Faces 'Death By A Thousand Cuts' As National Debt Tops $36 Trillion, Cautions Deutsche Bank: '...The Drip, Drip, Drip Of Poor Fiscal News Building Up...' A former Google employee himself, Srinivas underscored the irony of it all, with the company having led the way with early AI breakthroughs, with acquisitions like DeepMind and DNNresearch, founded by Nobel Prize-winning luminaries, Demis Hassabis and Geoffrey Hinton, and yet Google was paralyzed by its own success. "They can still be entrapped into this trap that they saw coming," he says, referencing the classic innovator's dilemma. The branding risk is also immense, Srinivas noted. "One out of ten mistakes at the scale of 10 billion daily queries is a billion mistakes a day," he says. That level of failure in a public-facing AI product could erode Google's reputation, which was once, and probably still is, synonymous with trust and reliability. Why It Matters: Two weeks ago, Apple Inc. AAPL executive Eddy Cue disclosed that, for the first time, search volume on the company's Safari browser, where Google remains the default search engine, had declined. The revelation triggered a pullback in both Apple and Alphabet shares. Srinivas responded on X with a blunt take, "AI is eating search." The decline was widely interpreted as a sign that AI-native platforms like ChatGPT and Perplexity are beginning to chip away at traditional search traffic. Price Action: Alphabet shares were down 1.52% on Tuesday, ending at $165.32 per share, but are up 0.31% after hours, following its Google I/O developer event. Alphabet shares score high on Quality and Growth in Benzinga's Edge Stock Rankings, it has a favorable price trend in the short term, but not in the medium and long terms. Check here for deeper insights into the stock. Read More: Dan Ives Calls Tesla's Austin Robotaxi Launch A 'Watershed Moment,' Maintains Bullish Views On Tesla Photo Courtesy: JHVEPhoto on Shutterstock.com AAPLApple Inc$205.98-0.43%Stock Score Locked: Want to See it? Benzinga Rankings give you vital metrics on any stock - anytime. Reveal Full ScoreEdge RankingsMomentum48.64Growth33.18Quality77.44Value8.43Price TrendShortMediumLongOverviewGOOGAlphabet Inc$166.200.53%GOOGLAlphabet Inc$164.920.57%Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs

Google Unveils 'Total Reimagining Of Search' With Chatbot-Style Feature To Compete with OpenAI - Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG), Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Alphabet's Google GOOG GOOGL revamps its search engine by introducing an AI chatbot-style feature, aiming to stay ahead of competitors like OpenAI. What Happened: Google has introduced an "AI mode" in its search and Chrome browser for all U.S. users from Tuesday. This new feature will offer a conversational, question-and-answer experience, similar to OpenAI's ChatGPT, rather than the traditional list of links, reported the Financial Times. The announcement was made by Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google's parent company, Alphabet, during its annual I/O developer conference in Mountain View, California. Pichai labelled the move as a "total reimagining of search." This release is part of Google's ongoing efforts to incorporate generative AI into its dominant search engine, despite investor concerns that the new products may cannibalize its current revenue streams. The "AI Mode" follows last year's introduction of "AI Overviews" at the I/O conference. Among other things, Google showcased new products, including smart glasses and introduced an "AI Ultra Plan" costing $249.99 per month. The plan offers higher AI usage limits and early access to experimental tools like Project Mariner, which automates browser actions and Deep Think, an advanced version of Gemini designed for complex reasoning tasks, as reported by Reuters. SEE ALSO: Senate Crypto Bill Passes Key Vote, GENIUS Act Moves Toward Final Passage - Benzinga Why It Matters: The revamp of Google's search engine comes at a crucial time for the company. Google, criticized for lagging in AI development while rivals like OpenAI and Anthropic gained ground, has accelerated its rollout of new tools. It has upgraded its Gemini model -- claiming the 2.5 version outperforms competitors in key benchmarks, especially in coding -- and plans to launch its AI assistant, Project Mariner, this summer. Get StartedEarn 7.2% -- No Matter What the Fed Does Markets expect rate cuts -- but your earnings don't have to suffer. Lock in 7.2% until 2028 from ten individual bonds. Get Started The assistant can perform complex tasks by controlling users' browsers and software. However, growing concerns about privacy remain as AI models begin incorporating long-term memory. Google's CEO, Sundar Pichai, has also been in talks with Apple Inc. AAPL to integrate the company's Gemini AI into iPhones, as federal regulators work to curb Google's dominance in online search. However, as AI development charges on, tech experts have raised concerns over safety taking a backseat to profit potential. Benzinga Edge Stock Rankings shows that Alphabet had a stronger price trend over the short term but a weaker trend over the medium and long term. Its momentum ranking was moderate at the 35th percentile, whereas its growth ranking was strong at the 89th percentile; the details of other metrics are available here. The shares of Alphabet dropped 1.52% to $165.32, while on a year-to-date basis, it dropped 13.28%. READ MORE: Panama Moves To Legalize Bitcoin Nationwide As Trump's Pro-Crypto Policies Fuel Global Adoption - Benzinga Image via Shutterstock Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors. AAPLApple Inc$205.63-0.59%Stock Score Locked: Edge Members Only Benzinga Rankings give you vital metrics on any stock - anytime. Unlock RankingsEdge RankingsMomentum48.64Growth33.18Quality77.44Value8.43Price TrendShortMediumLongOverviewGOOGAlphabet Inc$165.530.13%GOOGLAlphabet Inc$164.350.23%Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs

Alphabet Stock Is Rallying Wednesday: What's Going On? - Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG), Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Shares of Alphabet Inc GOOGL GOOG are leading the Nasdaq-100 higher on Wednesday after the company unveiled a major overhaul of its Google search engine during its annual I/O developer conference. What To Know: CEO Sundar Pichai announced the rollout of a new "AI Mode," offering a conversational, chatbot-style experience akin to OpenAI's ChatGPT. The feature is now live for U.S. users across Search and Chrome. The update, described as a "total reimagining of search," signals Google's aggressive push into generative AI. New offerings include the AI Ultra Plan at $249.99/month, Project Mariner for browser automation and Deep Think, a high-level reasoning AI. Despite concerns over cannibalizing ad revenue, analysts remain cautiously optimistic. JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs reiterated bullish outlooks, citing Alphabet's leadership in AI and faster product rollout. Citizens was more tempered, pointing to regulatory risks and growing competition. Still, Alphabet's upgrades -- like Gemini 2.5, real-time translation and media creation -- underscore its long-term AI vision. With AI now central to its ecosystem, Alphabet could be in a better position to defend its Search dominance. Read Also: Palo Alto Stock Is Facing Selling Pressure Wednesday: What's Going On? How To Buy GOOGL Stock By now you're likely curious about how to participate in the market for Alphabet - be it to purchase shares, or even attempt to bet against the company. Buying shares is typically done through a brokerage account. You can find a list of possible trading platforms here. Many will allow you to buy "fractional shares," which allows you to own portions of stock without buying an entire share. In the case of Alphabet, which is trading at $171.6 as of publishing time, $100 would buy you 0.58 shares of stock. If you're looking to bet against a company, the process is more complex. You'll need access to an options trading platform, or a broker who will allow you to "go short" a share of stock by lending you the shares to sell. The process of shorting a stock can be found at this resource. Otherwise, if your broker allows you to trade options, you can either buy a put option, or sell a call option at a strike price above where shares are currently trading - either way it allows you to profit off of the share price decline. According to data from Benzinga Pro, Google has a 52-week high of $208.70 and a 52-week low of $142.66. Google shares were up 3.44% at $171.01 at the time of publication Wednesday. Photo: Shutterstock GOOGAlphabet Inc$170.703.25%Stock Score Locked: Edge Members Only Benzinga Rankings give you vital metrics on any stock - anytime. Unlock RankingsEdge RankingsMomentum34.94Growth88.76Quality83.56Value52.59Price TrendShortMediumLongOverviewGOOGLAlphabet Inc$169.243.21% This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors. Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs

Why Alphabet Stock Was Rising Again Today | The Motley Fool

Shares of Alphabet (GOOG 2.42%) (GOOGL 2.47%) were moving higher again today as investors continue to react to the company's product announcements from yesterday's I/O developer conference. The gathering seemed to convince investors that Alphabet's artificial intelligence (AI) strategy was capable of driving growth and protecting its market share. At a time when the stock has fallen over antitrust concerns and signs that its close relationship with Apple could be vulnerable, these product announcements were enough to send the stock up 2.4% as of 1:23 p.m. after gaining as much as 4.9% earlier in the session. That comes following yesterday's gain of 2.8%, even as the broader market fell sharply on rising Treasury yields. Alphabet shared a number of newsworthy items in the conference. It's rolling out AI Mode in Google Search to all of its U.S. users, giving them the ability to interact with an AI chatbot in the search portal. It also said it would offer a $249/month subscription for AI power users, showing a way of monetizing its AI investments. Additionally, it said it was partnering with Warby Parker to develop smart glasses, much like Meta Platforms has partnered with Ray-Ban. Analysts responded to the news favorably, and some expected that AI Mode would be monetized as well. Alphabet has become a controversial stock following a court ruling that it has a monopoly in both search and adtech. Additionally, the stock tumbled when an Apple executive said that the company was considering making AI-based search engines like Perplexity available on Safari. Even after the two-day gains, Alphabet continues to look undervalued at a price-to-earnings ratio of just 19. The future of the business appears to look stronger as its AI strategy comes into shape. At the current valuation, the stock could easily keep gaining despite the antitrust risk.

Google Must Win at Artificial Intelligence or Its Search Business Could Crumble. Does This Make Alphabet an AI Stock to Buy? | The Motley Fool

In the past year, Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL 4.80%) (GOOG 4.54%) lost two key antitrust cases targeted at its search engine and advertising businesses. But the tech giant can appeal these defeats, so they aren't the greatest threat Alphabet faces. The larger risk to its business right now is artificial intelligence (AI). Consumers are flocking to AI apps such as OpenAI's ChatGPT, so much so that research company Gartner estimates search engines will see a staggering 25% drop in usage next year. This could cause Google's search business to collapse if the prediction comes true. AI certainly holds the potential to unseat Google's reign atop search engines. In fact, for the first time since 2015, Google's market share dropped below 90% in the fourth quarter of 2024, and was at 89.7% in April. These signs suggest cracks in Google's armor, so Alphabet must succeed at its own AI efforts if it wants to protect its all-important search business. Here's a deeper look into how the company is faring in the battle for AI supremacy. The AI stakes are high for Alphabet. Maintaining Google's search success is essential because this part of Alphabet's business produced $50.7 billion of its $90.2 billion in first-quarter revenue. Alphabet is determined to win at AI. The company spent $52.5 billion in capital expenditures last year as it built out the infrastructure needed to support its AI ambitions. It plans to up that investment to $75 billion in 2025. The expenditures involve investing in cutting-edge technology to power its AI systems, such as a proprietary Tensor Processing Unit (TPU). Alphabet's TPUs are hardware specifically engineered to efficiently train AI models and boost AI inference, which is a term describing an AI's ability to apply what it has learned to real-world situations. So far, its AI investments have paid off. Alphabet began inserting AI-generated results into Google's search results nearly a year ago, and as of the end of Q1, CEO Sundar Pichai noted, "We continue to see that usage growth is increasing as people learn that Search is more useful for more of their queries" thanks to AI. Moreover, according to Alphabet management, Google's revenue generation remains at the same rate as before AI was introduced, which indicates the company's addition of AI didn't take away from its ability to earn income from search queries. In fact, Google's $50.7 billion in Q1 search revenue represented growth from the prior year's $46.2 billion. AI is also a central component to Alphabet's success in other parts of its operations. One of these is its cloud computing business, Google Cloud. Through the Google Cloud platform, the conglomerate makes its AI tech available for other companies to use. Customers building AI through Google Cloud include Verizon Communications and Loews. Because of growth in AI adoption by other firms, Google Cloud's Q1 sales increased an impressive 28% year over year to $12.3 billion. Alphabet's AI accomplishments also extend to its self-driving car business, Waymo, which uses AI to make driving decisions. As of Q1, Waymo is providing over 250,000 passenger rides per week, a fivefold increase from the prior year. Waymo's growing popularity is another example of Alphabet's accomplishments with AI. Alphabet's AI achievements demonstrate it's succeeding with artificial intelligence. Every product the company owns -- representing at least half a billion users -- is using Alphabet's AI now. This is translating into revenue growth with Q1 sales hitting $90.2 billion, up from the prior year's $80.5 billion. And now is a good time to scoop up Alphabet shares. That's because its stock valuation looks reasonable when comparing Alphabet's price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio to competitors Meta Platforms and Microsoft. Meta is second only to Alphabet in terms of digital advertising market share, and has also invested heavily into AI. Microsoft competes against Alphabet across the search, advertising, and cloud computing markets. Alphabet's P/E multiple is the lowest among its competitors, indicating its stock is a better value. A combination of economic uncertainty fueled by President Donald Trump's tariff policies and the loss of federal antitrust lawsuits contributed to Alphabet's P/E ratio declining over the past year. Although the challenges of economic volatility and ongoing antitrust battles will persist in the short term, these are transitory, unlike the secular trend of AI that will play out over the long haul. Despite Google's search market share dipping below 90%, it still holds a massive lead over competitors. OpenAI's ChatGPT is predicted to reach 1% search engine market share this year, but that's still a far cry from Google's share. Alphabet's strategic AI investments are bearing fruit, and its relatively low valuation makes Alphabet an attractive AI investment for the long term.

Munster says Google I/O will be a "big deal By Investing.com

Investing.com -- Gene Munster, co-founder and Managing Partner of Deepwater Asset Management, has provided insights on Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL)'s upcoming I/O developer conference. The conference is seen as a significant opportunity for Google to demonstrate its willingness to confront the Innovator's Dilemma and take innovative steps to remain relevant in generative AI without disrupting its established business model. One of the main challenges for Google, similar to a year ago, is figuring out how to monetize generative AI. The company's shares, which fell 7% in the three days following Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) exec Eddy Cue's testimony, have since rebounded, increasing by 8% in the nine trading days. This bounce indicates that investor concern has lessened, but questions still linger. The developer conference arrives at a critical point for Google, with the future of Search and its market cap hanging in the balance. The central issue is how Google's business model will adapt in a world beyond blue links. Over the past year, AI Overviews have been introduced, which have increased Search usage. However, other AI technologies like GPT, Grok, and Claude have diverted more usage than Overviews have added, leading to a slowdown in Search growth. As the conference approaches, the focus is on whether Google is developing anything that provides a simple, generative answer. A feature called "AI Mode" has recently started limited testing, which could be seen as a precursor to a world without blue links. The challenge for Google is to balance providing consumers with a simple trusted answer and maintaining revenue growth and high margins for investors. The company may have more time than initially thought to manage this transition, with the possibility of short-term business model challenges leading to long-term gains. This situation is reminiscent of software companies like Autodesk (NASDAQ:ADSK) and Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE) transitioning to subscription-based models two decades ago. The keynote on Tuesday, starting at 11am ET, is expected to focus on demonstrations designed to inspire developers to build with Gemini inside Android apps. Additionally, new wearable hardware that competes with Meta's Ray-Bans is likely to be unveiled. Updates on Project Astra, Google's initial foray into physical AI announced in May 2024, are also anticipated. However, for Google investors, the primary interest will be any innovative updates on Search that can build confidence in Google's ability to navigate the challenges of generative AI.

Alphabet hits near three-month high on new AI updates

(Reuters) -Alphabet shares jumped 4% on Thursday, rising for a second straight day, as investors cheered the Google parent's artificial intelligence updates including the rolling out of "AI Mode" to all its U.S. users. A $249.99-a-month subscription for its AI power users, teased at its annual developer conference, also allayed concerns over funding the huge costs of the company's AI development. After the conference, "we are incrementally confident that Google can deliver continued search growth while ramping monetization suggesting improving execution," Citi analyst Ronald Josey wrote in a note. CEO Sundar Pichai said the rise of generative AI was not at the full expense of online search amid concerns about a behavioral change where users were turning to AI chatbots from search engines. In a major update, the company signaled that customers across the U.S. now can switch Google Search into "AI Mode." A Google search team executive also said using AI to answer tougher questions could open up new ways to show more relevant and useful ads. Ads make up the majority of Google's revenue. "We believe monetization of AI Mode is likely to 'soon' follow the U.S. launch," Josey said. Class C shares of Alphabet were up 4% at 175.27, trading at levels last seen three months ago. The stock is down about 7% so far this year. (Reporting by Medha Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)