Oppenheimer remains bullish on Alphabet despite recent bout of negativity

After several recent downgrades, Oppenheimer analyst Jason Helfstein reiterates an Outperform rating on Alphabet (GOOG) and conservatively maintains price target of $145. The firm sees several reasons to be bullish, including stock underperforming mega-cap peers year-to-date; commentary from Cannes industry event suggesting stable to positive macro trends with SMI Index positive in May; Street having reasonable, not bullish revenue outlook for 2024, with bearish margin outlook, ignoring recent headcount reductions or already assuming negative AI margin headwind; SMWB data indicating Google Search is not facing increased competition from Microsoft’s (MSFT) Bing; and stock trading at 22% discount to NASDAQ 2024 price to earnings.