Key Highlights
- Waymo’s autonomous vehicles have logged 170.7 million driverless miles, demonstrating approximately 10 times fewer serious accidents than human-operated vehicles
- Morgan Stanley maintains its Buy recommendation on GOOGL with a $330 price target, highlighting Waymo’s accelerated expansion trajectory
- Evercore ISI holds its Outperform stance with a $400 price objective following survey data showing Google’s search market share rising from 70% to 75% between August 2025 and March 2026
- ChatGPT’s search penetration declined from 13% to 11% during the identical timeframe; 52% of generative AI users reported increased Google search activity
- Alphabet shares have declined approximately 7% in 2026 and sit roughly 17% below the 52-week peak of $349, yet nearly 90% of Wall Street analysts maintain Buy ratings
Alphabet (GOOGL) shares retreated 2% during Thursday morning trading sessions, settling at $285.27, as broader equity market pressures impacted tech stocks. The S&P 500 declined 0.8% while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.4%, with crude oil prices surging over 4%.
The decline occurred despite two encouraging analyst assessments — from Morgan Stanley and Evercore ISI — that underscored optimism regarding both Waymo’s autonomous vehicle platform and Google’s core search business.
Morgan Stanley’s Brian Nowak maintained his Buy recommendation with a $330 price objective, noting that “Waymo continues to scale faster than expected…leading with safety.” The company’s most recent operational data through December 2025 reveals 170.7 million fully autonomous miles completed without human oversight.
Those figures exceeded Morgan Stanley’s internal projections.
The safety metrics remain impressive as well. Waymo documented approximately a tenfold reduction in serious collision rates and a fivefold decrease in injury-related incidents when compared to human-operated vehicles.
Waymo presently maintains operations across 10 American cities. Nowak anticipates 15 additional market launches throughout this year, combined with fleet expansion in current operating regions. Financial analysts widely predict robo-taxi deployment will at minimum double annually over the coming years.
Alphabet is committing substantial capital to support this expansion. The technology giant is forecast to allocate over $170 billion toward new infrastructure and equipment in 2026 — a significant jump from $91 billion in 2025 — per FactSet estimates. That represents considerable capital expenditure, even for a company of Alphabet’s scale.
Google Maintains Search Dominance
Regarding search operations, Evercore ISI reaffirmed its Outperform assessment and $400 price objective following completion of its eighth consecutive quarterly proprietary search market analysis.
The research indicated Google’s search market position expanded from 70% to 75% during the August 2025 through March 2026 period. Concurrently, ChatGPT’s search presence contracted from 13% to 11%.
Evercore reported no significant shift in Google’s portion of commercial-intent queries — such as product purchases or travel reservations — across the previous two-year period.
The investment firm increased conviction in its above-consensus Google Search revenue growth projection of 14%-plus for 2026, compared with Wall Street’s consensus 13% forecast. It referenced anticipated high-single-digit expansion in both paid click volume and cost-per-click metrics.
One advertiser documented conversion rates that doubled — jumping from 7% in Q1 2025 to 14% in Q1 2026. Advertising expenditure patterns remained largely stable or accelerating on a year-over-year basis entering Q1, although Evercore noted some hesitation emerging within the most recent 10-day window.
Current Stock Position
GOOGL has fallen approximately 7% year-to-date and trades roughly 17% beneath its 52-week high of $349, reached in February. The majority of the year-to-date weakness has materialized since geopolitical tensions involving Iran escalated.
Notwithstanding the pullback, nearly 90% of equity analysts covering Alphabet maintain Buy recommendations — substantially higher than the typical 55%–60% Buy-rating percentage for S&P 500 constituents. The consensus analyst price target stands around $380, elevated from approximately $335 at the beginning of 2026.
Alphabet’s revenue expanded 15% over the trailing twelve months, with analysts projecting 17% growth for fiscal year 2026. The equity currently trades at a P/E multiple of 26.91 with a PEG ratio of 0.77.
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