Citi raised its Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL) stock price target from $390 to $405 and kept a “Buy” rating ahead of the Q1 report scheduled for April 29.
Analyst Ronald Jose also put Google on a 90-day “upside Catalyst Watch,” citing a lineup of product launches and key events that could drive the stock higher through mid-July.
In addition to the aforementioned earnings report, the most important developments will be the Google Cloud Next event taking place April 22–24, the Google I/O conference on May 19–20, and the Google Marketing Live program on May 20.
Jose expects these events to feature updates across Alphabet’s product ecosystem, including developments in Gemini AI models, Search, YouTube, and cloud services.
“We believe Google could report revenues and operating income above consensus projections as newer products and services are announced over the next several weeks,” Citi wrote.
Google fundamentals are solid, Citi says
On the fundamentals side, the bank described the digital advertising environment as “relatively healthy,” supporting continued acceleration in Search revenue growth.
In addition, Citi noted that Gemini is gaining ground in both consumer and enterprise segments, with more than 750 million monthly active users and growing adoption via Gemini Enterprise.
Meanwhile, demand for Google Cloud and its artificial intelligence (AI) solutions remains strong, further reinforcing the positive outlook.
Taken together, Citi believes these catalysts could position Alphabet to outperform Wall Street expectations in the near term.
Wall Street’s consensus on Google
Looking at the broader Wall Street view, analysts are unequivocally bullish on Google shares. Of the 30 analyst notes compiled by TipRanks over the past three months, none recommended selling the stock, while 25 recommended buying it and five suggested holding. Accordingly, the consensus rating is ‘Strong Buy’.
As of the time of writing, the average Google price target for the next 12 months sits at $385.46 according to the same data, implying a projected gain of 15.79%. The highest estimate stands at $450, while the lowest target is $330.
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