Summary
⚈ Analyst Gil Luria predicts potential Google spin-offs to address DOJ antitrust concerns.
⚈ Average Wall Street target is $198.79, with Tigress Financial setting a high of $240.
Investment banking giant DA Davidson has issued a revised outlook on Google stock (NASDAQ: GOOGL)
On May 12, Gil Luria, the firm’s head of technology research, doubled down on a previously-set ‘Neutral’ rating, as well as a $160 price target. In a note shared with investors, the equity analyst shared an interesting appraisal of Google’s current issues with the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the ongoing antitrust case.
Luria believes that the company is headed toward an eventual “passive-aggressive” spin-off of its Network and possibly Chrome/Android divisions in order to appease the DOJ. The analyst believes that the debate over Google Search will not conclude any time soon — and that revenue growth could persist for several quarters, at least before Apple changes its default settings and OpenAI’s ChatGPT begins introducing ads.
With that being said, the researcher believes that breaking up Google could actually end up being a net positive for the tech giant.
Conglomerate model limits Google stock’s valuation multiple, per DA Davidson
According to Gil Luria, Google’s decision to maintain a conglomerate structure is effectively limiting all of its businesses to the 16x multiple that is being applied to Google Search. Per the analyst, if spun out, some of those businesses could command much higher valuations — comparable to Netflix (47x) or even Tesla (92x).
If met, the analyst’s $160 price target would represent a 1.85% upside from the current price of Google stock, which, as of the pre-market trading session on May 12, stands at $157.09.
As interesting as Luria’s thesis is, readers should note that the average price target for Google stock is $198.79 — which equates to a 26.54% upside.
In contrast with the DA Davidson analyst, other researchers, such as Tigress Financial’s Ivan Feinseth, who set a Street-high $240 price target, have expressed confidence that Google can not only survive present artificial intelligence (AI) related challenges, but thrive in a future landscape dominated by AI.
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