Alphabet Inc. shares gained ground on Wednesday as multiple Wall Street firms increased their price targets for the technology giant, pointing to accelerating momentum in its Google Cloud division and deepening artificial intelligence integration ahead of its first-quarter earnings report scheduled for April 29.
The stock advanced 1.7% to $337.93 during midday trading after BMO Capital Markets raised its price target to $410 from $400 while maintaining an Outperform rating. Bank of America Securities reiterated its Buy recommendation with a $370 target. The optimistic adjustments come as analysts point to Google Cloud's expanding growth trajectory and the company's strategic AI advancements showcased at this week's Google Cloud Next conference in Las Vegas.
At the Las Vegas event, Google unveiled significant enhancements to its AI offerings, including new AI agents designed to automate business tasks with minimal human intervention. The company also introduced custom-designed chips—the TPU 8t for training large AI models and the TPU 8i for inference operations—aimed at improving efficiency and performance for enterprise clients. These developments represent Google's intensified focus on capturing enterprise AI market share.
BMO analyst Brian Pitz cited improving Google.com traffic as evidence that Alphabet's rollout of AI Overviews—AI-generated summaries that appear above certain search results—is gaining user traction. The firm increased its 2026 Google Cloud revenue forecast by 5%, now projecting year-over-year growth of 44%. Pitz characterized Alphabet as "the best way to own AI" in a note to clients.
Bank of America's Justin Post expects Alphabet to report first-quarter revenue of $92 billion and earnings of $2.69 per share, both slightly above consensus estimates. He models Search and Other revenue increasing 18%, with Google Cloud growth accelerating to 49% and cloud margins expanding to 29%. Post believes ongoing enhancements to the Gemini AI platform will continue driving gains in search engagement and advertising results.
KeyBanc Capital Markets analyst Justin Patterson increased his price target to $380 from $370, suggesting the market still underestimates Google Cloud's acceleration potential. Patterson highlighted Alphabet's multiple pathways to monetize AI investments and projected earnings per share approaching $14 by 2027, assuming the cloud unit maintains traction and Search delivers low double-digit growth.
The company announced several major enterprise partnerships during the Cloud Next event. Pharmaceutical giant Merck committed to invest up to $1 billion over several years for AI infrastructure, engineering resources, and Gemini Enterprise licenses, with Merck's Dave Williams emphasizing "this isn't a pilot" program. PepsiCo entered a multi-year Gemini Enterprise partnership, while Salesforce expanded its existing Google Cloud collaboration to enable AI agents to operate across both platforms.
Despite the optimistic outlook, challenges remain. Alphabet previously indicated that 2026 capital expenditures could reach $175 billion to $185 billion as it builds AI infrastructure. BMO noted that while cloud demand remains robust, supply constraints could limit how quickly growth accelerates. Google Cloud continues to trail market leaders Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure in market share, leaving limited margin for error if AI-related revenues materialize more slowly than anticipated.
Alphabet will report first-quarter results after market close on April 29, followed by a conference call at 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time. Investors will scrutinize whether the company's Gemini AI advancements, Search improvements, and Google Cloud expansion are creating sufficient synergies to justify the recent wave of analyst upgrades and sustain the stock's upward trajectory.
