Analysts see Alphabet soaring as much as 41% after blowout earnings

Published Wed, Feb 2 20228:12 AM ESTUpdated Wed, Feb 2 20229:45 AM EST

Jesse Pound @/in/jesse-pound @jesserpound

A strong earnings report for Alphabet has made Wall Street even more bullish on the tech giant. The Google parent company, which already has a buy rating from the vast majority of Wall Street analysts, blew past estimates on profit and revenue for the fourth quarter . The stock popped more than 10% in premarket trading. The report led to a bevy of price target hikes from across Wall Street. The most bullish analyst is UBS' Lloyd Walmsley, who raised his price target to $3,900 from $3,800. That new target represents upside of 41.7% from where Alphabet's stock closed Tuesday. "Strong core search ad revenue growth, a 20:1 stock split, substantial growth in the cloud backlog, and copacetic commentary around the outlook were more than enough to offset another weak quarter for YouTube revenue growth, slightly weaker Google Service margins ... and higher cloud segment losses," Walmsley said in a note to clients. Though stock splits do not change the fundamentals of a company, they are often associated with a near-term boost in the stock price as the lower price could potentially bring in more retail investors. Michael Nathanson from MoffettNathanson, one of Wall Street's top internet analysts, hiked his target on the stock to $3,600 from $3,300. Nathanson said in a note to clients that the report was "thesis confirming from A to Z." "The company is incredibly well positioned for the continuing shift of marketing budgets to digital advertising and the shift of those dollars from top of the funnel brand-building to bottom of the funnel performance marketing. ... While these trends may appear obvious from recent results, Alphabet's shares are still supported by an incredibly undemanding valuation," Nathanson said. Meanwhile, JPMorgan analyst Doug Anmuth raised his target to $3,450 from $3,250, praising the company for delivering despite concerns about the e-commerce market. "Despite broader macro uncertainties, Alphabet delivered strong 4Q results ... and management remains confident in the business, albeit without providing a detailed forward outlook ... We also believe that GOOGL's ongoing investments in AI & innovation continue to improve the overall search experience and drive higher growth," Anmuth wrote. Here are some other notable price target hikes: Goldman Sachs: $3,400 from $3,350 Stifel: $3,500 from $3,200 Wedbush: $3,800 from $3,530 Bernstein: $3,500 from $3,250 Piper Sandler: $3,475 from $3,150 Bank of America: $3,510 from $3,470 —CNBC's Michael Bloom contributed to this report.

The Google corporate logo hangs outside one of its offices on August 31, 2021.

Sean Gallup | Getty Images

A strong earnings report for Alphabet has made Wall Street even more bullish on the tech giant.