Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ: GOOGL) has already gained some 40% since its year-to-date low in early March but analysts at Jefferies remain convinced it can push further to the upside in the coming months.
Shares of the tech titan currently pay a dividend yield of 0.43%.
Why is Jefferies bullish on Google stock?
The investment firm reiterated its “buy” rating on Google stock this morning and raised its price target to $215 that indicates potential for a 17% gain from here.
Jefferies analysts decided in favour of keeping bullish after their survey that concluded Google is a company that consumers associate with AI the most.
Companies that followed Alphabet Inc in that survey include OpenAI, Meta Platforms, and Microsoft Corp.
Note that Google shares are currently trading at their all-time high.
Google teamed up with CME today
On Wednesday, Google doubled down on its partnership with CME to set up a new facility aimed at moving trading into the cloud.
Google invested $1.0 billion in the derivatives exchange as part of a 10-year agreement with it in 2021. Rohit Bhat of Google Cloud said today:
This will maximise the opportunity for market participants to leverage a combination of specialised cloud services and existing investments in the area to drive differentiation and efficiencies.
CME will issue an 18 months notice to its clients before moving to the new platform. Google stock has more than tripled since its low during the pandemic.
YouTube in talks with music labels
Also today, the Financial Times said YouTube is holding talks with several music labels to make use of their songs for the purpose of training AI models.
Labels it’s in talks with include Warner Music, Sony, and Universal Music, as per people that spoke with FT on the condition of anonymity on Wednesday.
Neither the music labels nor YouTube itself has so far commented on the Financial Times report, though.
Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/embed/4aZhhM4kfc4?feature=oembed
The news arrives a couple months after Google reported its financial results for the first quarter that topped Street estimates. Sundar Pichai – the chief executive of Alphabet Inc said at the time:
We are well under way with our Gemini era and there’s great momentum across the company. Our leadership in AI research and infrastructure, and global product footprint, position us well for the next wave of AI innovation.
In late April, Google also announced its first-ever quarterly dividend of 20 cents per share. Its board authorised another $70 billion in share repurchase as well. Alphabet Inc currently has a market cap of $2.82 trillion.
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