Analysis-Britain appeals to Big Tech with change of regulatory guard By Reuters

Written by Emily J. Thompson, Senior Investment Analyst

GOOG-0.85%

MSFT+0.7%

META-0.09%

Source: Investing.com

Updated: Jan 23 2025

0mins

Source: Investing.com

New Leadership at CMA: Doug Gurr, a former Amazon executive, has been appointed as the interim chair of Britain's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), signaling a potential shift towards more lenient regulations for mergers and acquisitions to attract foreign investment amid economic struggles.
Regulatory Changes and Concerns: The UK government aims to balance consumer protection with encouraging business growth, but there are concerns that easing regulations could undermine the CMA's ability to effectively regulate digital markets and prevent monopolistic practices by Big Tech companies.

GOOG

$330.34+Infinity%1D

Analyst Views on GOOG

Wall Street analysts forecast GOOG stock price to fall over the next 12 months. According to Wall Street analysts, the average 1-year price target for GOOG is 313.25 USD with a low forecast of 255.00 USD and a high forecast of 350.00 USD. However, analyst price targets are subjective and often lag stock prices, so investors should focus on the objective reasons behind analyst rating changes, which better reflect the company's fundamentals.

15 Analyst Rating

14 Buy

1 Hold

0 Sell

Strong Buy

Current: 333.160

Low

255.00

Averages

313.25

High

350.00

Current: 333.160

Low

255.00

Averages

313.25

High

350.00

BTIG

Neutral

maintain

Al Analysis

2025-12-17

Reason

BTIG

Price Target

Al Analysis

2025-12-17

maintain

Neutral

Reason

BTIG says speculation yesterday that Google's (GOOG) for-sale home listings at the top of mobile searches have been pulled sparked "some relief" for Zillow Group (ZG). However, BTIG was able to surface the mobile for-sale listings test in a search this morning, with the listings still including data from the same platform as before along with sponsored links paid for by brokers, the analyst tells investors in a research note. "This saga may not be over just yet," according to the firm. BTIG believes that "while scary, this isn't relevant to near-term estimates." It keeps a Neutral rating on Zillow.

TD Cowen

Buy

maintain

$335 -> $350

2025-12-12

Reason

TD Cowen

Price Target

$335 -> $350

2025-12-12

maintain

Buy

Reason

TD Cowen raised the firm's price target on Alphabet (GOOG) to $350 from $335 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares. The firm increased the company's search estimates on its "positive" U.S. survey data. The data show ramping Gemini chatbot usage following the launch of Gemini 3, continued increases in search engagement driven by AI Mode and AI Overviews usage, and increasing share of ChatGPT users that are also using Gemini, the analyst tells investors in a research note.

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William Blair

maintain

$28.83

2025-12-11

Reason

William Blair

Price Target

$28.83

2025-12-11

maintain

Reason

William Blair took a "sober look" at Warby Parker's (WBRY) partnership with Google (GOOG, GOOGL). Warby shares are down 3% to $28.83 in afternoon trading. In the early days, "maybe" Google's artificial intelligence glasses can research $20M in annual sales, "but certainly not in 2026," the analyst tells investors in a research note. The firm says it has heard of "some relatively aggressive assumptions" on what the Google partnership with Warby Parker for AI-enabled glasses could contribute from a revenue and margin standpoint in recent weaks. Blair analyzed the potential for the glasses relative to the partnership between Meta (META) and EssilorLuxottica for the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses. The firm points out that EssilorLuxottica has 55-times the amount of physical stores compared to Warby Parker. At an average price point of $450, assuming the Google AI glasses are priced competitively to Ray-Ban Meta, this would support total unit sales of 45,000, Blair estimates.

Citizens

Market Perform

Outperform

upgrade

$30

2025-12-10

Reason

Citizens

Price Target

$30

2025-12-10

upgrade

Market Perform

Outperform

Reason

Citizens upgraded Warby Parker (WRBY) to Outperform from Market Perform with a $30 price target. The firm views the upcoming launch of Google's (GOOG, GOOGL) artificial intelligence glasses on Warby's platform as a "significant catalyst" for the shares. The glasses are important for Google's ongoing distribution of search and other products, which explains why the company is willing to commit $75M to cover Warby's expenses for the launch, the analyst tells investors in a research note. Citizens believes the glasses can drive Warby Parker's estimates significantly higher. The stock in morning trading is up 4% to $24.16.

About GOOG

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.