Alphabet initiated with a Buy at Pivotal Research

Pivotal Research initiated coverage of Alphabet (GOOG) with a Buy rating and $215 price target. If “the status quo holds,” Alphabet appears to be in a “very strong competitive position with a deep moat” around its dominant core search business model and an “obvious path” to leverage its global device presence, strong artificial intelligence platform and “financial might” to increase financial incentives to handset manufacturers for default AI placement, the analyst tells investors in a research note.