Alphabet Inc. (GOOG)
NEUTRALFundamental
65
Price
$342.89
Market Cap
$4.21T
Part 1 · What the company is worth
Overview
Alphabet is the parent of Google. Most of what it earns comes from showing ads next to search results and on YouTube and partner websites — a business built on knowing what billions of people are looking for. Around it Alphabet has built Google Cloud, a rented computing platform sold to other businesses, plus a set of unrelated long-term ventures such as self-driving cars, grouped as Other Bets.
How it makes money
Advertising revenue is earned per click or per impression: advertisers bid in real time for placement, so revenue rises with the volume of searches and video views and with how much advertisers are willing to pay per ad, which itself tracks the broader advertising economy. Google Cloud is billed like a utility, by computing capacity consumed. Because search advertising requires little incremental cost to serve one more query, it carries very high margins once the infrastructure is built.
Revenue by segment
Search and YouTube advertising, ads on partner sites, and consumer subscriptions like YouTube Premium and Google One. The core, highly profitable business.
Rented computing infrastructure and AI services sold to businesses. Growing much faster than advertising and now consistently profitable.
Early-stage ventures unrelated to search or cloud, such as the Waymo self-driving car project. Small revenue, large ongoing losses.
Competitive moat
Network effects · WideGoogle Search improves as more people use it, because usage data helps rank results and target ads better, which in turn attracts more advertisers and more users. YouTube has a similar loop between creators and viewers. Both businesses also benefit from being the default choice on the world's most common devices and browsers, which Alphabet pays to keep.
What drives demand
Moderately cyclicalAdvertising budgets are one of the first things companies cut in a downturn, so Google's core revenue is more sensitive to the economy than a typical subscription business, even though search usage itself stays steady. Google Cloud demand tracks corporate IT and AI investment, which has its own multi-year spending cycles.
Key risks
- Antitrust and regulatory action — Google has already lost antitrust rulings in the US and EU over search distribution and advertising technology, with remedies that could include changes to default-placement deals or forced divestitures still being litigated.
- Concentration in advertising — The large majority of revenue still comes from advertising. Anything that shifts how people search — including AI chat interfaces replacing traditional search queries — is a direct threat to this base.
- Heavy AI capital spending — Alphabet is spending tens of billions of dollars a year on data centres and chips to compete in AI. If AI products do not generate revenue in proportion to this spending, returns on capital fall.
- Dependence on device and browser defaults — A meaningful share of search traffic comes from being the default engine on Apple devices and various browsers, arrangements that regulators are actively scrutinising and that could be unwound.
The case for
Buyers argue that Search's advertising engine keeps growing even as AI reshapes how people look for information, that Google Cloud has become a real third force in cloud computing with improving margins, and that Alphabet's own AI models reduce the risk of being disrupted by outside AI chat products.
The case against
Sellers fear that AI chat interfaces divert queries away from traditional search results and the ads placed next to them, that antitrust remedies could force structural changes to the advertising and search businesses, and that AI infrastructure spending is running well ahead of any AI product revenue to show for it.
Written by the editors, published on August 18, 2026
Direct competitors
Who this company fights with for the same customers
No editorial profile for this company yet
No competitor list for this company yet.
Balance Sheet & Liquidity
Revenue
$445.87B
Trailing 12 months (through 6/30/2026)
Net Income
$244.21B
Trailing 12 months (through 6/30/2026)
Free Cash Flow
$73.27B
Total Equity
$415.26B
Total Liabilities
$180.02B
Current Ratio
2.72
Interest Coverage
65.55
Debt/EBITDA
0.70
Earnings Per Share
Revenue & Net Income
Free Cash Flow
Income Breakdown
Historical statement
Margins over time
Debt over time
How heavy the debt is
Growth grid
Growth — Revenue
Fair Value Estimation
Fair Value
$386.24
Current Price
$342.89
Margin of Safety
+11.2%
Fair Value Range
$251.06 - $521.43
Estimation Methods
Valuation Metrics
P/E Ratio
17.31
ROE
31.8%
P/B Ratio
6.58
P/FCF
79.11
Gross Margin
60.9%
ROIC
14.6%
Profitability Radar
Value Creation (Economic Moat)
ROIC
14.6%
WACC
10.9%
ROIC − WACC
+3.7 pp
ROIC exceeds the cost of capital — the company is creating value for shareholders.
Fundamental Analysis Criteria
Passed (20)
- Price CAGR 24.38%
- ROIC 14.7%
- Gross Margin 60.9%
- Debt/Equity ratio
- Operating Margin 33.1%
- Positive Free Cash Flow
- Current Ratio
- Interest Coverage
- Debt/EBITDA
- Return on Tangible Assets
- Low reliance on intangibles
- ROE 50.8%
- Revenue Growth 5Y 17.1%
- Analyst Consensus 89% Buy
- Earnings Surprise avg 6.5%
- PEG Ratio 0.58
- Earnings Quality (OCF/NI) 0.76
- Share Dilution -1.8%
- Net Margin Trend 54.8% vs 31.1%
- Piotroski F-Score 6/9
Failed (7)
- EPS shows upward trend
- EPS CAGR -4.90%
- P/FCF 79.11
- P/B Ratio 6.58
- CapEx intensity
- Price below Graham Number
- DCF valuation (Overvalued)
Unavailable (1)
- Dividend Payout NaN%
Piotroski F-Score
Mixed signals: some areas need attention
Earnings Quality
Moderate: some gap between profits and cash
Share Dilution
Buying back shares. Shareholder friendly
Governance
Executive Team
| Name | Title | Age |
|---|---|---|
| Mr. Sundar Pichai | CEO & Director | 52 |
| Ms. Ruth M. Porat | President & Chief Investment Officer | 67 |
| Dr. Lawrence Edward Page II | Co-Founder & Director | 52 |
| Mr. Sergey Brin | Co-Founder & Director | 51 |
| Ms. Anat Ashkenazi | Senior VP & CFO | 52 |
| Mr. J. Kent Walker | President of Global Affairs, Chief Legal Officer & Company Secretary | 64 |
| Mr. Philipp Schindler | Senior Vice President & Chief Business Officer of Google | 54 |
| Ms. Marsida Saraci | Principal Accounting Officer, VP & Controller | 46 |
| Sir Demis Hassabis Ph.D. | Chief Scientist | - |
| Mr. James H. Friedland | Head of Investor Relations | 55 |
Part 2 · The price and when to enter
This part won't tell you whether the company is worth owning: it helps you choose when to buy it, once the fundamentals have convinced you. Inside: technical analysis, potential, historical drawdowns, gamma exposure.
Latest News
Recent headlines for GOOG, sourced from Markets Gazette.
- 7/2/2026NEGATIVEGoogle Loses EU Antitrust Fight; Softbank Moves on Computing Power | Stock Movers
Alphabet Inc. (GOOG) shares are reacting to a significant setback as the company loses its protracted EU antitrust battle. The bloc's top courts have upheld a €4.1 billion ($4.7 billion) fine, confirming regulators' findings that Google abused its dominant position in the Android mobile operating system market. This judicial decision reinforces the EU's stringent stance on Big Tech's market power, potentially impacting Google's future strategic decisions and revenue streams within the European market. Investors will be closely monitoring any further regulatory actions or appeals.
- 6/8/2026NEGATIVEWhat's Going On With Alphabet Stock?
Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) stock experienced a decline on Monday following the announcement of plans to secure new capital and significantly increase expenditures on artificial intelligence infrastructure. This strategic shift indicates a substantial investment phase for the tech giant, potentially impacting short-term profitability. Investors may be reacting to the immediate cost implications of this aggressive AI build-out, which could weigh on earnings in the near term, despite the long-term growth potential of AI technologies.
- 5/1/2026POSITIVEThursday’s Activity, 3 Friday Plays
Thursday's trading session saw significant positive movement across all formulated premarket ideas, with notable intraday gain opportunities. Specifically, Alphabet Inc. (GOOG) and Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) call options experienced substantial breakouts, indicating strong investor interest and upward price momentum. These 'multibag rippers' suggest that the market is reacting favorably to the underlying assets, potentially driven by positive sentiment or specific catalysts not detailed in this excerpt. Investors tracking these tech giants should note the pronounced bullish activity.
- 4/9/2026NEUTRALAnthony Scaramucci Flags Google's Quantum Crypto Warning As Mike Novogratz Assures Bitcoin, Ethereum Will Implement Quantum-Resistant Upgrades
Anthony Scaramucci has drawn attention to Alphabet Inc.'s warning regarding quantum computing's threat to current cryptography, which underpins cryptocurrencies. While this poses a long-term risk to digital assets, SkyBridge Capital founder Mike Novogratz has reassured investors that major cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum are actively developing and will implement quantum-resistant upgrades. This suggests a proactive approach within the crypto space to mitigate future threats, making the immediate impact on GOOG stock neutral as the focus remains on the long-term technological evolution rather than immediate financial implications.
via Markets Gazette