Any doubts regarding the ability of Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) to navigate the brave new world of AI seem to have been put to rest following the tech giant’s recent Q3 earnings report. The company shattered both top- and bottom-line expectations, while breaking through the $100 billion quarterly revenue mark for the first time.
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Revenues of $102.35 billion represented year-over-year growth of 16%, and also beat expectations by a cool $2.21 billion. Moreover, its EPS GAAP of $2.87 beat estimates by a whopping $0.61, or 27% greater than expectations.
Growth came in many different shapes and sizes. Google Search, the company’s biggest cash cow, grew by 14.5% year-over-year, bringing in $56.57 billion in revenues. Meanwhile, Google Cloud grew by 33.5%, reaching $15.16 billion in sales.
GOOGL’s share price has now gained over 70% during the course of the last six months. On the heels of such rapid growth, should investors take a time out? Not according to top investor Jonathan Weber, who sees more dollar signs ahead.
“Alphabet’s strong fundamentals and reasonable valuation make [the] stock one of the most attractive big tech investments today,” says the 5-star investor, who is among the top 2% of stock pros covered by TipRanks.
Weber is very encouraged by the strong revenues, and notes that the 16% increase is the largest quarterly jump in over three years. That a company the size of Alphabet is able to deliver such robust numbers is all the more impressive.
“I think it is remarkable that this very established business that has been active for many years is still doing this well, growth-wise, and it seems pretty clear by now that Artificial Intelligence isn’t hurting Google’s search business,” adds Weber.
And, it certainly appears that momentum is on Alphabet’s side, as Google Cloud now has a backlog of $155 billion. While capex is high, so are free cash flows, which Weber points out total $49 billion year-to-date.
Moreover, Alphabet’s earnings multiple makes it cheaper than most of its Magnificent 7 peers, making this a “good value” investment.
“I thus remain bullish on Alphabet for its strong growth, excellent wide-moat business model, and still quite appealing valuation on a relative basis,” sums up Weber, who rates GOOGL a Strong Buy. (To watch Jonathan Weber’s track record, click here)
One won’t find too much disagreement on Wall Street, where 28 Buys and 8 Holds combine to give GOOGL a Strong Buy consensus rating. Its 12-month average price target of $267.53 implies minimal losses going forward, meaning that some analysts may be revisiting their assessments in the near future. (See GOOGL stock forecast)
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Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the featured investor. The content is intended to be used for informational purposes only. It is very important to do your own analysis before making any investment.