12 Best FAANG+ Stocks to Invest in Right Now

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4. Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Number of hedge funds: 202

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) is the parent company of Google and a pioneer in internet-related services and products, including online advertising technologies, search engines, cloud computing, software, and hardware. The company is also a leading investor in data centers and fiber networks, operating a vast global network of data centers that support its cloud services and other digital offerings. Its market cap currently stands at $2.5 trillion, up from $880 billion five years ago.

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) continues to strengthen its position in the cloud computing market, which has experienced rapid growth in recent years and is expected to expand significantly in the coming years. The company has been heavily investing in expanding its data center infrastructure to meet the increasing demand for its Google Cloud services. With a focus on AI and machine learning, Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) is well-positioned to capitalize on the growing need for data processing and storage solutions. The company continues to report strong operating performance, with Q3 2024 showing a 35% year-over-year growth in cloud revenue, driven by the integration of AI, which is attracting new customers and larger deals. YouTube revenue also continues to show healthy growth. However, Alphabet’s dominance is also subject to regulatory challenges, such as anti-trust lawsuits, which remain a risk.

Analyst views remain broadly positive regarding Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s growth prospects. Bernstein analyst recently raised his price target to $210 from $185 while maintaining his Market Perform rating. An Oppenheimer analyst also raised his price target to $225 from $215 and maintained his Outperform rating. For the upcoming Q4 2024 earnings results, the analyst expects strong advertising trends and search revenue concerns to be offset by better profitability. Additionally, positive indicators from Meta Platform’s results and its ad pricing growth due to GenAI also bode well for the company.

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