Tech giant Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) recently brought out its earnings report. While the news was generally positive, it wasn’t sufficiently positive for investors, who began a large-scale sell-off sufficient to send Alphabet shares down nearly 9% in Wednesday morning’s trading.
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Generally, the news was fair, and Barclays Capital noted that it amounted to a “classic mixed bag.” Cloud results were a comparative disaster, and margins weren’t what was hoped, but revenue from Search and YouTube both were well beyond market expectations.
It didn’t help matters much that Alphabet reported revenue that was 1% above the consensus but then promptly reported operating income that was short by 1%. However, by Barclays’ figuring, the real winner was Search, which gained 11% against the same time in 2022.
In a bid to start setting up future business, Alphabet’s Google arm is planning to offer some new internet hookup capabilities to a range of nations. Google plans to run cables to eight different Pacific Ocean countries, including Australia, Micronesia, Papua New Guinea, and several others.
The project is a joint venture between the Australian government and the United States, with Australia putting up $50 million and the U.S. posting $15 million.
Is Alphabet a Buy, Sell, or Hold?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Strong Buy consensus rating on GOOG stock based on six Buys and one Hold assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. Furthermore, the average GOOG price target of $149.29 per share implies 16.93% upside potential.
