Alphabet's Strong Earnings Contrast with Trade Desk's Disappointing Guidance
Written by Emily J. Thompson, Senior Investment Analyst
Updated: Mar 03 2026
0mins
Should l Buy GOOGL?
Source: NASDAQ.COM
- Alphabet's Accelerating Performance: In its fourth quarter, Alphabet reported an 18% year-over-year revenue increase to $113.8 billion, accelerating from 16% growth in the previous quarter, showcasing strong performance in Google Services and cloud computing, thereby reinforcing its market leadership.
- Cloud Business Surge: Google Cloud's revenue soared 48% year-over-year to $17.7 billion in the fourth quarter, driven by the ongoing adoption of AI infrastructure, indicating Alphabet's rapid expansion in high-margin sectors.
- Trade Desk's Slowing Growth: The Trade Desk reported fourth-quarter revenue of $847 million, up 14% year-over-year, but noted that growth would have been closer to 19% without the irregular nature of U.S. political ad spending, highlighting a deceleration in its growth momentum.
- Uncertain Outlook: The Trade Desk's first-quarter revenue guidance of at least $678 million implies only about 10% year-over-year growth, and the adjusted EBITDA guidance suggests a decline in key profitability metrics, reflecting the challenges it faces.
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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: 297.390
Low
305.00
Averages
374.25
High
400.00
Current: 297.390
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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- Strategic Positioning: Hall emphasizes Alphabet's investments in artificial intelligence and machine learning, which will provide long-term competitive advantages, especially in a rapidly evolving technological landscape, effectively enhancing its market share.
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- Financial Health: Alphabet's robust financial condition, characterized by continuous revenue growth and strong cash flow, provides a solid foundation for future investments and expansions, ensuring long-term returns for shareholders.
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- Escalating Security Threats: Iran's Revolutionary Guard has designated 18 tech companies, including Oracle, as 'legitimate targets' in retaliation for U.S. and Israeli strikes, indicating the increasing significance of tech assets in conflicts.
- Industry Impact: James Henderson, CEO of risk management firm Healix, noted that the threats against tech companies are part of a sustained pattern, suggesting that future crises may target data centers and cloud platforms as much as traditional strategic sites.
- Historical Context: In March, Iran attacked Amazon Web Services data centers, causing outages in several apps and digital services in the UAE, underscoring the serious cybersecurity landscape in the region.
See More
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- Overreaction in Market: While efficiency gains may increase demand, Micron projects the high-bandwidth memory market to grow from $35 billion to $100 billion, suggesting that supply constraints remain, and the current stock decline could represent a buying opportunity.
- Open Source Impact: By open-sourcing the TurboQuant algorithm, Google allows all AI companies to leverage this breakthrough, potentially increasing demand for memory chips and further impacting market prices and supply chains.
- Cautious Investor Approach: Despite the panic triggered by TurboQuant news, investors should monitor consumer memory prices to assess whether Micron faces risks of falling product prices, remaining vigilant in their investment strategies.
See More
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- Algorithm Efficiency Boost: Google's TurboQuant algorithm reduces memory usage by at least 6x and speeds up processing by up to 8x without any accuracy loss, potentially decreasing memory demand by 83%.
- Market Reaction: Following this announcement, shares of memory chipmakers Micron Technology and Sandisk fell by 10% and 14%, respectively, as investors feared a significant drop in demand, although some experts caution that these fears may be overblown.
- Historical Insight: The Jevons Paradox suggests that increased efficiency can lower costs and ultimately increase demand; historical examples, such as improved fuel efficiency in cars leading to higher fuel consumption, indicate that memory chip demand may not decline as expected.
- Investment Opportunity: Despite the initial pullback in Micron and Sandisk stocks, analysts believe that the launch of TurboQuant will drive further AI adoption and strengthen demand for memory chips, with Mizuho analysts reiterating their outperform ratings, suggesting this is a buying opportunity.
See More
