We recently published a list of 10 Latest AI News You Shouldn’t Miss. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) stands against other latest AI news you shouldn’t miss.
Anastasia Amoroso, iCapital chief investment officer, said in a latest program on CNBC that 2025 will be the year of AI software, data centers and power. She believes the AI rally is broadening out.
“Artificial intelligence, as I mentioned, is carrying itself over into 2025, and I think it’s broadening. Last year, last two years, have been about semiconductors. I think this year has to be about AI software; it has to be about AI monetization, but it also has to be about AI power. And it’s not just, you know, a number of headlines talking about data centers and how much they consume, and the fact that I think you need eight times the electricity to run an AI data center. It’s an actual real trend, which I also think the Trump Administration is going to support as well.”
The analyst also said investors should consider alternative investments or private markets as she believes private equity valuations are below the levels seen in public markets.
For this article we picked 10 AI stocks trending on latest news. With each stock we have mentioned the number of hedge fund investors. Why are we interested in 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).
Analyst Says Alphabet (GOOG) ‘Deserves’ a Higher Multiple
A laptop and phone open to Google's services in an everyday setting.
Michael Khouw, Co-Founder and Chief Strategist of OpenInterest.PRO, said in a latest program on CNBC that Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) is undervalued.
“Alphabet deserves a market multiple more than the market does at 25 times. That would be 20% upside from here. I like Alphabet Inc Class C (NASDAQ:GOOG),” he said.
The market has been ignoring Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s key secondary businesses and the stock remains undervalued despite concerns around AI search and regulatory onslaught.
Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s secondary ventures in AI, autonomous driving, and other areas are making solid progress, especially in the Waymo robotaxi segment. With the 2025 EPS forecast at around $9, Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) could realistically achieve earnings closer to $10 if it maintains its historical outperformance rate. At a projected $10 EPS, Google’s forward P/E multiple would be approximately 17, a relatively low valuation for a diversified market leader.
What are the key drivers for Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL)?
Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) remains on track to reach a $100 billion revenue run rate from YouTube Ads and Google Cloud by the end of 2024. In its autonomous driving division, Waymo has shown notable progress, with paid autonomous rides growing 200% quarter-over-quarter to 150,000 weekly rides as of late October, thanks to a fleet of 700 vehicles in service since August.
This growth is significant: Waymo vehicles now average about 30.6 autonomous rides per day—substantially higher than Uber’s average of 4.18 rides per driver daily, based on Uber’s 31 million daily trips and 7.4 million drivers last quarter. This performance underscores Waymo’s competitive edge in autonomous ride volume compared to traditional ride-hailing.
In the third quarter, Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s Search & Other segment saw a 12.2% year-over-year revenue increase, rising from $44.03 billion to $49.39 billion. YouTube advertising also performed well, with revenue up 12.2% to $8.92 billion from $7.95 billion. Meanwhile, Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s subscriptions, platforms, and devices revenue grew even more sharply, surging 27.8% from $8.34 billion to $10.66 billion.
Google Cloud has been expanding steadily, with revenue climbing from $13.06 billion in 2020 to $33.09 billion in 2023. Notably, Google Cloud turned profitable for the first time in 2023, posting $1.72 billion in operating profit—a significant improvement from a $5.61 billion loss in 2020. This segment’s performance continues to strengthen, with the latest quarterly revenue reaching $11.35 billion, up 35% from $8.41 billion in the same period last year.
RiverPark Large Growth Fund stated the following regarding Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) in its Q3 2024 investor letter:
“Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG): Google was our top detractor in the third quarter despite reporting second quarter results that were generally in line with expectations. The company reported slightly better revenue growth in Search, which grew 14% and continues to be resilient in the face of AI challengers, and Google Cloud, which grew 29% in the quarter. Service operating income margins of 40% and Cloud operating income margins of 11% were also both ahead of investors’ expectations as management’s cost-efficiency efforts drove operating leverage. YouTube revenue growth was slightly below expectations (+13% v. +16%) driven by tougher year-over-year comparisons and some general weakness in the Brand Advertising vertical. Finally, Cap Ex in the quarter of $13.2 billion was more than expected and likely the driver of the weakness in the stock as investors grapple with how much infrastructure investment will be required to achieve Google’s AI goals.
Overall, GOOG ranks 4th on our list of the latest AI news you shouldn’t miss. While we acknowledge the potential of GOOG, our conviction lies in the belief that under the radar AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than GOOG but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
