Previously, we encouraged investors to consider a $200 share-price target for Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG, NASDAQ:GOOGL). The buyers maintained control and Alphabet stock moved higher, making it a good call. Today, we’re giving the stock a “B” grade and remaining confident in Alphabet stock.
At the same time, we’re striving to be fair and balanced. As we’ll discuss in a moment, Alphabet is making a large investment and there are risks involved. First, however, we need to address an issue that some skeptics might have with Alphabet and Google.
It’s Not Easy, Being King of the Hill
Being the king of the hill in a lucrative market is great, but the downside is that many competitors will want to knock you off the hill. Alphabet’s Google is a perfect example, since Google is truly the king of U.S. search engines.
In recent months, some skeptics have been worried that one competitor or another would steal significant search-engine market share from Alphabet. Yet, these concerns haven’t stopped Alphabet stock from marching higher since March.
The buyers are too busy “climbing the wall of worry” to get bogged down by fear, uncertainty and doubt. Sure, companies like OpenAI are developing artificial intelligence features for search engines. However, Google is also working diligently to advance its Gemini generative-AI technology.
So, to quote a Barron’s report, Alphabet stock has “shaken off fears that its 90% share of search activity might be eroded by AI rivals.” Clearly, the market understands that Google is the king of the hill in this specific market and won’t easily be toppled by AI-focused rivals in 2024.
Alphabet Makes a Notable Investment
Now, here’s a news item that you probably didn’t expect. Reportedly, Alphabet will invest 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) to expand a data center in Finland.
Naturally, there’s risk involved in a billion-euro investment on the other side of the planet. No guarantees can be made that Alphabet will get a decent return on this financial outlay. So, why would the company choose to pour money into a Finnish data center?
As Bloomberg explained, Alphabet chose Finland “because of its easy access to green energy.” Thus, this is part of Alphabet’s bigger bet on renewable power as the company seeks to “run every office and data center on green energy by the end of this decade.”
This is something that every current and prospective Alphabet investor should consider. Alphabet will undoubtedly continue to spend a great deal of capital on the company’s green-energy transition. You’ll want to be on board with this if you’re going to confidently invest in Alphabet for the long term.
Alphabet Stock: Stay Relaxed and Focused
If you’re worried about Alphabet’s king-of-the-hill position in the search-engine market, just relax. Google won’t get knocked off the hill anytime soon. On the other hand, you’ll surely want to keep tabs on Alphabet’s green-energy investments, which could be quite costly.
All in all, Alphabet stock earns a “B” grade and our generally positive outlook remains unchanged. So, feel free to hold your Alphabet shares and look forward to $200 and more.
On the date of publication, neither Louis Navellier nor the InvestorPlace Research Staff member primarily responsible for this article held (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article.
