After making rapid strides in artificial intelligence (AI),\u00a0Alphabet\u2019s (GOOG) (GOOGL) Google\u00a0is now racing ahead into its next big tech frontier, quantum computing. The tech giant first caught attention back in December 2024 when it introduced its \u201cmind-boggling\u201d Willow quantum chip, claiming it could tackle complex problems in just five minutes, tasks that would take even the world\u2019s fastest supercomputers an unbelievable 10 septillion years to complete.<\/p>\n
Fast forward to now, and Google has taken an even bigger leap. Its Quantum AI division has achieved the \u201cfirst-ever verifiable quantum advantage,\u201d marking a major breakthrough toward reaching the first-ever real-world application of quantum computing. Using its \u201cQuantum Echoes\u201d algorithm, the Willow chip performed calculations 13,000 times faster than the classical algorithm in the world’s fastest supercomputer.<\/p>\n
Google\u2019s CEO, Sundar Pichai, shared the big news on X (formerly Twitter), explaining that this new algorithm can model how atoms interact in molecules using\u00a0nuclear magnetic resonance, which would unlock\u00a0massive breakthroughs in drug discovery and materials science. This breakthrough brings Google one step closer to harnessing the true power of quantum computing, a race that also includes competitors such as Microsoft (MSFT), IBM (IBM), and several ambitious start-ups in hot pursuit.<\/p>\n
That being said, is now the right time to buy GOOGL shares?<\/p>\n
Fueled by a diverse mix of revenue streams, Google\u2019s tech dominance is hard to miss. The California-based powerhouse leaves its mark across nearly every corner of the digital world, from its lucrative advertising business and rapidly growing cloud division to ad-supported streaming, self-driving tech, and even healthcare innovations. Yet what truly sets Google apart today is its early and strategic bet on AI and quantum computing.<\/p>\n
Long before AI took the tech world by storm, Google was quietly embedding it into its core products, such as Search, YouTube, and Maps. Those early efforts have now come together in Gemini, the company\u2019s flagship AI model suite, which serves as the centerpiece of its strategy to lead the AI race. And on the quantum computing front, Google is making waves with its Willow chip, recently achieving the first-ever verifiable quantum advantage.<\/p>\n
Currently valued at a massive market capitalization of about $3 trillion, shares of this search engine giant faced some turbulence recently as investors reacted to a bold new challenge from OpenAI. On Oct. 21, OpenAI unveiled ChatGPT Atlas, an AI-powered browser designed to rival Google\u2019s core search and browser businesses. By launching Atlas, the ChatGPT maker is making its most aggressive move yet into Google\u2019s territory.<\/p>\n
With integrated AI chat and summary features, Atlas could shake up the way users interact with the web and potentially disrupt Google\u2019s traditional digital ad model, which depends on clicks and traffic. Still, despite this looming threat, Google\u2019s stock continues to perform strongly on Wall Street, buoyed by solid business fundamentals and the company\u2019s relentless innovation across AI, cloud, and quantum computing.<\/p>\n
Over the past year, GOOGL stock has climbed a notable 60.4%, sailing past the broader\u00a0S&P 500 Index\u2019s ($SPX) 17.1% gain. In 2025, it\u2019s up another 37.9%, again leaving the broader market\u2019s modest 15.6% return far behind. The stock just touched a record high of $261.68 today and is holding strong, just 0.2% below that peak, highlighting its impressive momentum.<\/p>\n
www.barchart.com <\/p>\n
The tech powerhouse dropped its fiscal 2025 second-quarter results on Jul. 23, which came in well ahead of Wall Street expectations, showcasing the company\u2019s resilience even amid competitive pressures. For the quarter, revenue climbed about 14% year-over-year (YoY) to $96.4 billion, sailing past the $94 billion consensus, while EPS also jumped 22% to $2.31, beating estimates by a 7.4% margin.<\/p>\n
Operating income grew 14% annually to $31.3 billion, with a strong 32% operating margin driven by top-line growth and disciplined spending. By quarter-end, Google held a substantial $95 billion in cash and marketable securities, highlighting its financial firepower. Google also delivered significant value to shareholders during the quarter, with $13.6 billion spent on share repurchases and $2.5 billion paid in dividends, underscoring its focus on rewarding investors.<\/p>\n
Digging deeper, we see continued strength in the Google Cloud division, with revenue surging 32% YoY to $13.6 billion, fueled by widespread adoption of Google Cloud Platform (GCP) offerings, AI infrastructure, and generative AI solutions. The cloud backlog hit a staggering $106 billion, up 18% sequentially and 38% YoY, underscoring strong demand from both new and existing clients.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Google\u2019s core Search and advertising businesses also remained resilient despite rising competition in the AI arena. Search revenue grew 11.7% YoY to $54.1 billion, and total advertising climbed 10.4% to $71.3 billion, demonstrating the company\u2019s ability to defend its market dominance. During the company\u2019s Q2 earnings call, CEO Sundar Pichai highlighted the company\u2019s accelerating AI momentum.<\/p>\n
Gemini, home to Google\u2019s AI chatbot, now boasts over 450 million monthly active users, while AI Overviews, the AI-powered search summarization tool, reaches over 2 billion monthly users across more than 200 countries and territories. Moreover, to support this growth, Google raised its fiscal 2025 capital expenditure plan to roughly $85 billion, up from the previous forecast of $75 billion, driven by surging demand for cloud services and AI solutions.<\/p>\n
In fact, management expects Google\u2019s capital expenditures to rise even further in fiscal 2026, fueled by strong customer demand and growth opportunities across the company\u2019s various business segments. The tech giant is gearing up to release its fiscal 2025 third-quarter financial results after the market closes on Wednesday, Oct. 29. Ahead of this announcement, analysts are projecting a 7.1% annual increase in EPS to $2.27. Looking further ahead, Wall Street expects Google\u2019s fiscal 2025 earnings to climb 23.5% YoY to $9.93 per share,<\/p>\n
On Oct. 20, Bank of America reaffirmed its \u201cBuy\u201d rating on Google and raised the price target from $252 to $280 per share, setting the stage ahead of the company\u2019s upcoming earnings. The firm\u2019s checks indicate that Q3 advertising spend is outperforming expectations, driven by improving macro conditions, rising data usage, and stronger ad investments.<\/p>\n
The investment firm also anticipates steady growth in paid clicks for Google Search, which could help offset AI-related disruption risks and potentially support multiple expansions. BofA also highlighted growing traction for Google\u2019s Gemini AI platform and noted that recent Cloud deals could further boost backlog growth.<\/p>\n
Overall, Wall Street remains highly optimistic about GOOGL, with the stock earning a consensus \u201cStrong Buy\u201d rating. Of the 56 analysts covering it, 42 see it as a \u201cStrong Buy,\u201d five view it as a \u201cModerate Buy,\u201d and nine recommend \u201cHold.\u201d The stock is trading just above its average analyst price target of $259.90, while the Street-high target of $310 suggests that the stock can rally as much as 19% from here.<\/p>\n
www.barchart.com <\/p>\n
On the date of publication, Anushka Mukherji did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. This article was originally\u00a0published on Barchart.com<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After making rapid strides in artificial intelligence (AI),\u00a0Alphabet\u2019s (GOOG) (GOOGL) Google\u00a0is now racing ahead into its next big…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":96845,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[345,343,344,64589,2717,85,46,1423,125],"class_list":{"0":"post-96844","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-artificial-intelligence","8":"tag-ai","9":"tag-artificial-intelligence","10":"tag-artificialintelligence","11":"tag-googl","12":"tag-google-search","13":"tag-il","14":"tag-israel","15":"tag-quantum-computing","16":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96844","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96844"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96844\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/96845"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96844"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96844"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96844"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}