- Shares of Alphabet Inc. rose as much as 1.7 percent Thursday after a flurry of positive analyst comment on the prospects for 2020 for the parent of Google.
- After Street high view of $1,700 by Credit Suisse, Jefferies rose its target by $100 to $1,650 making it one of Wall Street’s most optimistic forecasts.
Shares of Alphabet Inc. rose as much as 1.7 percent Thursday after a flurry of positive analyst comment on the prospects for 2020 for the parent of Google.
At least three companies raised their stock price target, while this year KeyBanc Capital Markets named it one of their “key ideas” in the Internet sector. Specifically, analysts were broadly positive that Alphabet’s ad business would see strong growth, helped in part by political ad spending.
The gain from Thursday extends a push into record territory, with the stock rising from a low in June by almost 40 percent. The rally took Alphabet within a striking distance of a valuation of $1 trillion; the current market capitalization is about $980 billion.
BofA analyst Justin Post, who called Alphabet “a top Internet utility,” wrote that there are a number of advertisements and shopping initiatives “that could improve product monetization and affect overall revenue growth.” He affirmed his stock purchase rating and increased his target to $1,620 from $1,450.
After Street high view of $1,700 by Credit Suisse, Jefferies rose its target by $100 to $1,650 making it one of Wall Street’s most optimistic forecasts. Analyst Brent Thill reiterated his purchase ranking, seeing “continued quest power, supported by the internet, YouTube and international expansion contributions.”
KeyBanc sees Alphabet benefit from key developments in 2020, including a heightened emphasis on productivity and “intensifying space/time war” and political ad spending in an election year. This year’s “massive volume” of digital political ads “will favor major marketing outlets through both direct spending and ad space competition, which should raise prices for other advertisers.” Analyst Andy Hargreaves gave an overweight rating and an alphabet share price target of $1,546.
Cowen also cited an improved view of ad spending in 2020, referring to an ad buyers survey that he conducted.
Google Search is the highest return on investment platform and by 2021, analyst John Blackledge wrote, YouTube is expected to be one of the “bigger expected ad budget shareholders.” He reiterated his rating of over-performance and raised his price target from $1,525 to $1,575.
40 analysts are currently recommending the purchase of Alphabet, while five are on stock hold ratings. On the bonds, none of the companies monitored by Bloomberg have a sell rating. The average price target is about $1,467, about 4% above the latest closure.
Recently, Alphabet announced Sundar Pichai as their new CEO taking over from Founder Larry Page in the top authority shake-up.
Source- Bloomberg News
