Overview
- Piper Sandler lifted its Alphabet target to $365 from $330 on Dec. 11 and kept an Overweight rating, citing momentum from AI ad tools.
- Piper’s ad-buyer survey found Google Search gaining digital budget share for the first time in three years, with robust ROI reported.
- Performance Max campaigns and Gemini models were identified as key drivers of incremental ad revenue in Google’s ecosystem.
- Alphabet shares are up 64% year to date, the strongest gain among the Magnificent Seven, while valuation remains below several peers.
- Alphabet reported $102.3 billion in Q3 revenue, up 16% year over year, as Search paid-click growth reaccelerated to 4% in Q2 and 7% in Q3 alongside AI Overviews and AI Mode in Search.