Cantor Fitzgerald Upgrades Alphabet to Buy with $370 Price Target
Written by Emily J. Thompson, Senior Investment Analyst
Updated: Jan 08 2026
0mins
Should l Buy GOOGL?
Source: CNBC
- Rating Upgrade: Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Alphabet from hold to buy and raised its price target from $310 to $370, reflecting analysts' confidence in its strong positioning in the AI tech sector, particularly with the success of its Gemini large language models, which is expected to drive future performance growth.
- Market Dynamics: Despite the Nasdaq's decline on Thursday as investors moved away from tech stocks, the Dow rose, indicating market volatility at the start of the new year; Jim Cramer advised investors to remain cautious and avoid making significant investment decisions at this time.
- Industry Outlook: Texas Roadhouse stock has had a strong start to 2026, surging nearly 8% year-to-date, but Jim Cramer cautioned that rising beef prices pose ongoing risks, suggesting potential impacts on future earnings and stock performance.
- Rapid Recap: Other stocks mentioned in Thursday's video included Constellation Brands, Ford, Gap, AbbVie, and Darden, highlighting a focus on a diversified investment portfolio, with Jim Cramer's charitable trust holding positions in TXRH and GOOGL, further emphasizing confidence in these companies.
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Analyst Views on GOOGL
Wall Street analysts forecast GOOGL stock price to rise
33 Analyst Rating
26 Buy
7 Hold
0 Sell
Strong Buy
Current: 309.000
Low
305.00
Averages
374.25
High
400.00
Current: 309.000
Low
305.00
Averages
374.25
High
400.00
About GOOGL
Alphabet Inc. is a holding company. The Company's segments include Google Services, Google Cloud, and Other Bets. The Google Services segment includes products and services such as ads, Android, Chrome, devices, Google Maps, Google Play, Search, and YouTube. The Google Cloud segment includes infrastructure and platform services, collaboration tools, and other services for enterprise customers. Its Other Bets segment is engaged in the sale of healthcare-related services and Internet services. Its Google Cloud provides enterprise-ready cloud services, including Google Cloud Platform and Google Workspace. Google Cloud Platform provides access to solutions such as artificial intelligence (AI) offerings, including its AI infrastructure, Vertex AI platform, and Gemini for Google Cloud; cybersecurity, and data and analytics. Google Workspace includes cloud-based communication and collaboration tools for enterprises, such as Calendar, Gmail, Docs, Drive, and Meet.
About the author
Emily J. Thompson
Emily J. Thompson, a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) with 12 years in investment research, graduated with honors from the Wharton School. Specializing in industrial and technology stocks, she provides in-depth analysis for Intellectia’s earnings and market brief reports.
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Investment Concerns: Despite strong fundamentals, Alphabet's stock has faced recent pullbacks, raising questions among investors about potential fatigue or long-term buying opportunities, especially in light of expected capital expenditures between $175 billion and $185 billion for 2026.
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Earnings Report Highlights: The latest quarterly results exceeded earnings and revenue expectations, with earnings per share at $2.82 and revenue reaching $113.83 billion, marking a 17% year-over-year growth, particularly driven by a surge in cloud revenue.
Investment Concerns: Despite strong fundamentals, Alphabet's stock has faced recent pullbacks, raising questions among investors about potential fatigue or long-term buying opportunities, especially in light of expected capital expenditures between $175 billion and $185 billion for 2026.
AI and Market Position: Alphabet continues to expand its AI capabilities and maintain a moderate buy rating, with analysts suggesting that the current stock price offers a significant upside, reflecting the company's ambition and resilience in a challenging tech environment.
See More
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- User Growth Comparison: Google's Gemini app has reached 750 million monthly active users, increasing by 100 million from the previous quarter, closely approaching ChatGPT's estimated 800 million users, indicating a significant threat to ChatGPT's market share.
- Revenue Driver: Although Google does not directly attribute revenue to Gemini, its strong growth in cloud and services units suggests that Gemini is a key contributor to the company's overall performance, with annual revenue surpassing $400 billion for the first time in 2025, marking a 15% year-over-year increase.
- Competitive Landscape: OpenAI faces fierce competition from major tech players like Google, as Gemini's rapid rise could erode ChatGPT's market share, forcing OpenAI to increase its infrastructure investments to maintain competitiveness.
- Funding Needs: To address competition and infrastructure commitments, OpenAI is reportedly close to completing a funding round of up to $100 billion, highlighting the financial pressures it faces in sustaining innovation and market expansion.
See More
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- Product Differentiation: Broadcom has launched the industry's first Wi-Fi 8 access point and switch system, aimed at enhancing security and speed for enterprises using AI, thereby further solidifying its market position.
- Competitive Strategy: Broadcom's custom XPUs complement Nvidia and AMD's general-purpose GPUs, allowing the company to grow rapidly in specific niches while avoiding the pressures of direct competition.
See More
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- Alphabet Cloud Growth: Alphabet's cloud business had an annual revenue run rate of approximately $70 billion at the end of 2025, with a backlog growth exceeding 100% year-over-year to $240 billion in Q4, which is expected to significantly enhance the company's profitability in 2026 and solidify its leadership in the AI sector.
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- Multiple Clinical Trial Data Releases: Rhythm also plans to report top-line data from a Phase 3 study evaluating Imcivree in four other genetic diseases in Q1 2026 and disclose results from an exploratory Phase 2 study on Prader-Willi syndrome in the first half of the year, further boosting investor confidence.
See More
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- Share Reduction Details: Chou Associates Management Inc. reduced its stake in SiriusXM Holdings by 292,873 shares in Q4 2025, valued at approximately $6.30 million, indicating a cautious approach towards the stock.
- Holding Proportion Change: As of December 31, 2025, Chou Associates' stake in SiriusXM decreased to 4.06%, which may impact its overall portfolio risk management strategy.
- Company Financial Overview: SiriusXM reported $8.56 billion in revenue and $805 million in net income for 2025, with a dividend yield of 5.02%, demonstrating stable cash flow and profitability.
- Market Performance Analysis: As of February 12, 2026, SiriusXM shares were priced at $21.70, down 11.6% over the past year, underperforming the S&P 500 by 24.47 percentage points, reflecting market concerns about its future growth.
See More
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- Legislative Loophole Closure: The UK government has announced that AI chatbots will be subject to the Online Safety Act, requiring platforms like OpenAI's ChatGPT, Google's Gemini, and Microsoft's Copilot to combat illegal content or face fines or bans, aiming to protect children from harmful material.
- New Regulations Implementation: Prime Minister Keir Starmer stated that the new regulations will set minimum age limits for social media platforms and restrict children's access to AI chatbots and VPNs, reflecting a proactive regulatory approach to address mental health issues among children.
- Response to International Trends: This legislation aligns with similar measures in Australia and Spain, which have banned social media access for those under 16, indicating a growing global concern for youth online safety, with the UK actively following suit.
- Future Legislative Process: The amendment to the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill has passed in the House of Lords and will now be reviewed by the House of Commons, and if both houses agree, it will further advance the implementation of laws ensuring children's safe use of social media.
See More
