Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai during the Google I/O developers conference in Mountain View, California, on May 10, 2023.
David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | beautiful images
Alphabet Shares rose 10% Friday morning after the company posted First quarter results were better than expected and give it the green light first dividend and a $70 billion buyback.
The company on Thursday reported revenue of $80.54 billion, up 15% from a year earlier and its fastest growth rate since the start of 2022, surpassing the $78.59 billion in revenue that analysts expected by LSEG. Earnings of $1.89 per share eclipsed the $1.51 per share earnings Wall Street expected.
Alphabet announced that its board of directors has authorized a dividend of 20 cents per share on June 17 to all shareholders of record as of June 10 and said it intends to pay the dividend. in cash every quarter in the future. The company said its board of directors also approved an additional $70 billion in stock repurchases.
The company exceeded analyst expectations for YouTube advertising revenue and Google Cloud revenue.
Barclays analysts maintained their bullish rating on Alphabet shares and raised their price target to $200 from $173, praising the company's balance between investment and capital efficiency and returns.
“Google is at a good time to accelerate growth, expand margins while shipping products faster and return capital — essentially proving the naysayers,” they wrote in a note Thursday. sent”. “The momentum will stay strong for a while here.”
Analysts at Oppenheimer focus on Alphabet's accelerating advertising business despite significant spending on artificial intelligence, raising their price target to $205 from $185 and reiterated their rating outstanding.
Morgan Stanley analysts, maintaining their high rating on Alphabet, increased their price target from $165 to $195, citing the company's core growth durability and “initial success in restructuring the cost base on a permanent basis”.
Among other price target increases for the stock following Alphabet's earnings report, JPMorgan increased its price target to $200 from $165, while Evercore ISI increased its target to $200 from $160.
– CNBC's Michael Bloom contributed to this report.
