Alphabet (GOOGL) Stock: J.P. Morgan Names It ‘Top Overall Pick’ After Blowout Q1

TLDR

• Alphabet stock is up 23% in 2026 and 135% over the past 12 months
• Q1 EPS came in at $5.11, crushing the $2.68 consensus estimate; revenue hit $109.9B
• Google Cloud grew ~63% and revenue backlog nearly doubled to $468B
• J.P. Morgan raised its price target to $460 and kept its Overweight rating
• 86% of analysts covering GOOGL rate it a Buy

Alphabet stock was trading down 0.9% to around $382.20 on Monday, though that barely tells the full story after one of the strongest earnings prints on Wall Street this season.

Alphabet Inc., GOOGL

Q1 EPS landed at $5.11, more than doubling the $2.68 analyst consensus. Revenue came in at $109.9B, up 21.8% year over year and ahead of the $106.96B estimate.

The headline numbers were hard to argue with.

Google Cloud was the standout. The segment grew roughly 63%, reaching around $20B in revenue. The division’s contribution to Alphabet’s overall revenue backlog was even more striking.

Alphabet’s total revenue backlog nearly doubled to $468B in Q1, up from $243B the prior quarter. Cloud makes up 99% of that figure, and more than half is expected to convert to revenue within two years.

The firm reiterated its Overweight rating and bumped its price target to $460 from $395. Anmuth wrote that GOOGL remains the firm’s “top overall pick” and that the stock can move higher on both earnings revisions and multiple expansion.

More than 40 analysts raised their price targets following the report. Of the 74 firms tracked by FactSet, 86% rate the stock a Buy.

Search Growth Picks Up Steam

Core search revenue grew 19% year over year in Q1, the fourth consecutive quarter of accelerating growth. J.P. Morgan said this supports Alphabet’s case that AI is helping search rather than hurting it.

Other firms joining the bullish camp include TD Cowen, Scotiabank, Raymond James, and Piper Sandler, all of which raised targets after the quarter.

Not everyone is convinced. D.A. Davidson reiterated a Neutral rating, lifting its target to $375 from $310 but noting that the outperformance is “well reflected in the current valuation.”

Capital Spending Is the Key Watch Item

Alphabet guided for 2026 capex of around $185–190B, with further increases expected in 2027. J.P. Morgan flagged that higher spending will be needed to satisfy the cloud backlog, and the market will be watching how quickly that backlog translates into actual revenue.

Hardware is playing a bigger role too. D.A. Davidson noted that TPU sales to cloud customers have been a key driver of backlog growth, though the cost structure of those deals remains an open question.

Alphabet also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.22 from $0.21, payable June 15.

The stock has a 52-week high of $383.39 and is now within range of overtaking Nvidia as the world’s most valuable company, with a market cap sitting at $4.64 trillion.

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG increased its Alphabet stake by 16.5% in Q4 to 322,820 units worth around $101.3M, making it the firm’s 22nd-largest holding.

The post Alphabet (GOOGL) Stock: J.P. Morgan Names It ‘Top Overall Pick’ After Blowout Q1 appeared first on CoinCentral.