Despite retracing 16% from the May highs, Google (NASDAQ: GOOGL) stock remains more than 7% in the green in 2026 and, per JPMorgan’s (NYSE: JPM) assessment, the gain will accelerate again in the next 12 months.
Specifically, analyst Doug Anmuth reiterated his ‘Overweight’ – ‘Buy’ – rating for Alphabet shares in an October 1 note and set his price target at $420, meaning, in his estimate, GOOGL equity is set for a 24.17% rally from $338.24 at the latest close.
The expert from JPMorgan focused on the new Gemini 4 Argon artificial intelligence (AI) model, highlighting its success in benchmarks against leading competing platforms.
Anmuth also emphasized the need for Google to ‘re-establish itself at the frontier and as an AI leader for both the industry and investors’ – a task for which Argon AI could prove critical.
Wall Street sets Google stock price target after Gemini 4 Argon release
Meanwhile, JPMorgan was far from the only major institution to reflect on the new release. Four other Wall Street analysts revised their assessment of Alphabet stock on October 1, each giving it a ‘Buy’ rating and setting a price target higher than $400.
KeyBanc’s Justin Patterson forecasted a 28.61% rally to $435 – notably lower than the previous $445 – Brent Thill from Jefferies stuck to the previous $445 – Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) analyst Ken Gawrelski opted for a more modest 21.51% rise to $411, and RBC Capital analyst Brad Erickson set his sights at $425.
Overall, Wall Street considers Google stock a ‘Strong Buy’ and estimates, on average, that a 26.50% rally to $427.88 will take place in the next 12 months, per the data Finbold retrieved from TipRanks on Friday, October 2.
Google stock price performance after release of Argon AI
Notably, while it may be too early to truly tell, Gemini 4 Argon has, so far, had an underwhelming impact on GOOGL shares.
Alphabet’s equity closed at $340.92 on September 29 – a day before release – rallied 0.93% in a day, and then reversed and fell 1.70% to its latest close at $338.24. Thus, despite the technological milestone, GOOGL stock is essentially flat on the 30-day chart.
Lastly, Google has performed akin to the other hyperscalers in 2026, which have – despite their importance for the AI ‘boom’ – almost universally underperformed the wider stock market.
Indeed, year-to-date (YTD), GOOGL is up 7.33%, Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) 9.59%, Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) 8.43%, Meta (NASDAQ: META) 11.61%, while the S&P 500 rose 11.78% within the timeframe.
Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) is the main exception to the trend, and it rallied 22.25% since January 2 – the first regular session of 2026.
Featured image via Shutterstock
