We recently compiled a list of the 12 Best Cloud Computing Stocks to Buy According to Analysts. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) stands against the other cloud computing stocks.
Cloud computing enables companies to store their infrastructures remotely using the Internet, ultimately reducing costs and creating value. As per Gartner, worldwide end-user spending on public cloud services is expected to reach $723.4 billion in 2025, reflecting a rise from $595.7 billion in 2024. The use of Al technologies in IT and business operations continues to accelerate the role of cloud computing in helping operations and outcomes. The cloud use cases have been expanding with an increased focus on distributed, hybrid, cloud-native, and multi-cloud environments, aided by a cross-cloud framework, which should make the public cloud services market achieve a growth rate of 21.5% in 2025.
Gartner believes that 90% of organizations will adopt a hybrid cloud approach through 2027. Resultantly, all segments of the cloud market should see a double-digit growth rate in 2025 demonstrating how I&O (Infrastructure and Operations) leaders remain focused on effectively integrating I&O into their GenAl strategies and laying the groundwork for running Al and GenAl infrastructure at the edge.
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Key Trends to Watch Out in 2025
Moving forward, the concept of cloud computing is expected to change because of technological enhancements and dynamic business requirements. As per Nasscom Community, quantum computing integration, AI-driven cloud services and multi-cloud, and interoperability are some of the future trends in cloud computing. The emerging field of quantum computing focuses on changing how data processing is done because it can handle even the most complicated computations that some other conventional systems cannot solve. Over the next 5 years, more cloud services are expected to offer its clients quantum computing capabilities, which should in turn help in cryptography, drug development, material science, and optimization.
AI and ML are some of the leading technologies behind innovation in the cloud. Nasscom Community believes that pervasive AI is expected to be in each layer of the cloud system, right from the server level to the customer service level by 2025. Moving forward, AI algorithms should help in predictive analysis and, therefore, prevent problems that can arise with infrastructure, control workload, and reduce automation of tedious tasks.
Future developments in the cloud computing field are expected to enhance the multi-cloud strategies involving using more than one cloud service provider between the business and the cloud altogether. Notably, distributing workloads among several cloud providers would help enterprises maximize cost and performance. The businesses have been dividing their workload across multiple cloud service providers in a bid to control data and resources and use the strength of each cloud service provider.
Our Methodology
To list the 12 Best Cloud Computing Stocks to Buy According to Analysts, we conducted extensive research and sifted through several online rankings. After getting the initial list of 18 stocks, we chose the ones that were popular among hedge funds and that analysts saw the most upside to. Next, the stocks were arranged in ascending order of their average upside potential, as of 10th January. We also mentioned the hedge fund sentiment around each stock, as of Q3 2024.
At Insider Monkey we are obsessed with the stocks that hedge funds pile into. The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points (see more details here).
A user’s hands typing a search query into a Google Search box, emphasizing the company’s search capabilities.
Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 202
Average Upside Potential: 9.3%
Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) is a significant player in the cloud computing space through its subsidiary, Google Cloud. The company’s Al offerings are expected to differentiate its services from competitors, which should attract more enterprise customers and drive growth in this high-margin business. Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) continues to aggressively integrate Al capabilities into its core offerings, which should help enhance user experiences and maintain competitive edge. In Q3 2024, Google Cloud revenues rose 35% to $11.4 billion led by accelerated growth in Google Cloud Platform across Al Infrastructure, Generative Al Solutions, and core GCP products.
The synergies between Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s cloud services and its other Al-powered products are expected to create a strong ecosystem for businesses, which should promote deeper integration and long-term customer relationships. This can result in increased customer retention and higher-value contracts, fueling revenue growth and margin expansion in its cloud segment. Several analysts remain optimistic about Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s cloud business. For example, JPMorgan highlighted Google Cloud’s accelerating growth due to greater GenAl demand primarily because of its Gemini large language model.
As per Matt Britzman, senior analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s cloud business demonstrated strong performance in Q3 2024. The analyst further highlighted that the major cloud providers are well-positioned to benefit from the Al revolution. Reuters reported that the company’s cloud business grew at the fastest pace in 8 quarters, courtesy of companies doubling down on cloud spending, which is critical to power Al technologies.
Qualivian Investment Partners, an investment partnership focused on long-only public equities, released its Q3 2024 investor letter. Here is what the fund said:
“Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL): Q2 2024 revenues and EPS beat expectations, with total revenues growing 14%, Search ad revenues growing 14%, YouTube ads growing 13%, and Google Cloud revenues growing 29%. Revenue growth in the quarter constituted a continued sequential improvement from earlier quarters in the year, suggesting a continued rebound in Alphabet’s core business except for YouTube ad revenues, which missed expectations and showed deceleration in the growth rate as compared to Q1 when it grew 21%. Operating margins improved by 310 bps vs. the same quarter last year.
Management continued to highlight developments with their generative AI program, which is seen as a foundational platform with opportunities across their businesses but particularly in search and cloud. However, this comes with material capex investment well ahead of the expected economic benefits from Gen AI, and the level of spending is leading investors to worry about the ROI on that spend for Alphabet, as well as the other hyperscalers (Microsoft and Amazon). We continue to have confidence in Alphabet’s ability to generate strong revenue, earnings, and cash flow growth well above the S&P 500’s in the years to come and view it as a core holding for the long term.”
Overall GOOGL ranks 11th on our list of the best cloud computing stocks to buy according to analysts. While we acknowledge the potential of GOOGL as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some deeply undervalued AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for a deeply undervalued AI stock that is more promising than GOOGL but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.