Alphabet Inches Closer to Exclusive $2 Trillion Club: Tech Watch

(Bloomberg) — Google owner Alphabet Inc. is a step closer to becoming only the third U.S. company to achieve a $2 trillion market value, thanks to a 69% rally this year fueled by a rebound in spending on digital ads and growth in its cloud business.

The stock rose Thursday for a third straight day, closing at a record and just $29 billion shy of the milestone — a feat accomplished in the U.S. only by Apple Inc. and Microsoft Corp. 

Alphabet is the best-performing stock this year among the five biggest U.S. technology companies by sales, and bulls see the stock rising further because of its cheaper valuation and higher growth rate than most of its megacap peers.

“Alphabet is still growing like a small cap,” said Ryan Jacob, chief executive officer of Jacob Asset Management. “If you can have Tesla crossing $1 trillion, Google at $2 trillion is cheap.” He owns some Alphabet shares, along with Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc. and high-growth small-cap tech stocks. 

Indeed, at 24 times forward earnings, Alphabet is one of the cheaper large-cap tech stocks. Tesla Inc. trades at a whopping 151 times forward earnings.

Sales at Mountain View, California-based Alphabet are projected to increase 40% this year, which would be its fastest growth in at least a decade. That’s a contrast to other ad-dependent peers, such as Snap Inc. and Twitter Inc., who warned on their revenues. In the big tech club, Microsoft is expected to see revenue expand at less than half that rate in its current fiscal year.

Buy Ratings

Analysts are upbeat as well, with all but one of the analysts tracked by Bloomberg rating Alphabet a buy and the average price target of about $3,320 implying a gain of 12% from Thursday’s close. 

The rise to the top wasn’t a smooth one, and risks remain. A spike in interest rates in the past two months put pressure on technology shares and slowed the stock’s ascent. And the Federal Reserve has just begun the process of withdrawing pandemic-era stimulus, which fueled a record flood of money into equities, particularly high-growth tech stocks. 

Google, meanwhile, is also facing antitrust scrutiny. The U.S. Justice Department and a group of states have sued the company for allegedly abusing its dominance in internet search.

“This is not going away, but I think they are adept to dealing with these issues and it is unlikely to have a significant impact on their results,” said Jacob, a veteran of the dot-com boom-and-bust era.

Tech Chart of the Day

Top Tech Stories:

  • Peloton’s struggles to adjust to a post-pandemic recovery have led to the fitness company cutting its annual revenue forecast by as much as $1 billion. It also reduced its guidance for subscribers and profit margins. Shares were down 34% in premarket trading Friday.
  • Pinterest said ad-tracking changes from Apple didn’t have a material effect on its business in the third quarter, reporting stronger-than-expected profit and revenue that was in line with analysts’ projections. The stock gained 5.2% premarket.
  • Uber projected fourth-quarter adjusted income that fell below analysts’ projections, overshadowing a milestone for the company — its first quarterly profit as a public company. The shares were little changed premarket.
  • Datadog boosted its full-year adjusted earnings per share forecast, beating the average analyst estimate as the software services provider continues to innovate at a “rapid pace,” CEO Olivier Pomel said. The stock jumped 17% premarket.

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com

©2021 Bloomberg L.P.

Close Bitnami banner
Bitnami