Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Price Down 2.5% – What’s Next?

06 Feb 2026, 22:57 by Tristan Rich · The Markets Daily

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL – Get Free Report)’s share price was down 2.5% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $319.92 and last traded at $322.86. Approximately 55,697,475 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 55% from the average daily volume of 35,905,914 shares. The stock had previously closed at $331.25.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

Positive Sentiment: Alphabet beat Q4 estimates with $113.8B revenue, $2.82 EPS, huge Google Cloud growth (48% y/y) and milestone annual revenue above $400B — evidence that AI and ads are driving durable top‑line momentum. Alphabet Crushes Earnings Again, Reports 48% Cloud Revenue Growth
Positive Sentiment: Gemini/product adoption and a surging cloud backlog (reported at ~$240B) support longer‑term revenue leverage from AI investments — a structural growth argument investors and many analysts are citing. Google goes from laggard to leader as it pulls ahead of OpenAI with stellar AI growth
Positive Sentiment: Multiple brokers raised price targets and reiterated buy/outperform views after the quarter (e.g., Citigroup, JPMorgan, RBC, Needham, Mizuho), providing analyst support under the share price. Multiple analyst price target raises (Benzinga)
Neutral Sentiment: Reported short interest data shows no meaningful short position change (reads as negligible/quiet on short‑selling activity), so moves are likely driven by flows and sentiment rather than a short squeeze.
Neutral Sentiment: ETF/sector flows and inclusion chatter (new Big Tech ETFs) can amplify moves in GOOGL but are not company‑specific catalysts. Big Tech Core: New Burney ETF Packs Apple, Nvidia, Google, Broadcom Punch
Negative Sentiment: Alphabet guided to $175–$185B of capex for 2026 (aimed at AI compute and cloud), a shockingly large jump that has investors fretting about near‑term free cash flow and returns on incremental AI spend — the dominant proximate cause of recent weakness. Alphabet resets the bar for AI infrastructure spending (CNBC)
Negative Sentiment: Wider market narrative: fears about excessive AI capex are prompting a tech sell‑off (FactSet noted >$1T wiped from big‑tech), which weighs on Alphabet alongside company‑specific capex concerns. Big Tech sees over $1 trillion wiped from stocks as fears of AI bubble ignite sell-off
Negative Sentiment: Insider selling was reported after the quarter, adding near‑term pressure on sentiment. Alphabet Shares Down After Insider Selling
Negative Sentiment: Employee protests over Google Cloud contracts with immigration agencies pose reputational/legal risk that can create headline volatility. Google Workers Demand End to Cloud Services for Immigration Agencies

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on GOOGL. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Daiwa Securities Group lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $233.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. UBS Group set a $348.00 target price on Alphabet and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $400.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday. Finally, Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $400.00 price objective (up previously from $325.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-three have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $357.46.

Check Out Our Latest Research Report on GOOGL

Alphabet Stock Down 2.5%

The firm has a market cap of $3.90 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $321.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $269.25.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.57 by $0.25. Alphabet had a return on equity of 36.21% and a net margin of 32.81%.The firm had revenue of $113.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.24 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 9th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $319.50, for a total value of $10,383,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,272,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $725,942,020.50. The trade was a 1.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder 2017 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 1,845,308 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.00, for a total value of $35,060,852.00. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,035,186 shares of company stock worth $94,458,941. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 110,330 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $20,886,000 after purchasing an additional 4,110 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 14,930 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,826,000 after purchasing an additional 506 shares in the last quarter. B.O.S.S. Retirement Advisors LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 13.9% during the 2nd quarter. B.O.S.S. Retirement Advisors LLC now owns 9,839 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,734,000 after buying an additional 1,200 shares during the last quarter. Precision Wealth Strategies LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 498.8% during the 2nd quarter. Precision Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 10,222 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,801,000 after buying an additional 8,515 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NRI Wealth Management LC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at about $225,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Alphabet Inc is the holding company created in 2015 to organize Google and a portfolio of businesses developing technologies beyond Google’s core internet services. Its principal operations are led by Google, which builds and operates consumer-facing products such as Google Search, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Gmail, Google Maps and Google Workspace, as well as advertising platforms (Google Ads and AdSense) that historically generate the majority of its revenue. Google also develops consumer hardware (Pixel phones, Nest smart-home devices, Chromecast) and developer and distribution platforms such as Google Play.

Beyond Google’s consumer and advertising businesses, Alphabet invests in enterprise and infrastructure offerings through Google Cloud, which provides cloud computing, data analytics and productivity services to businesses and institutions.