Quick Summary
- Waymo recorded 170.7 million autonomous miles with no human driver behind the wheel, achieving approximately 10 times fewer serious crashes than human-operated vehicles
- Morgan Stanley maintains its Buy recommendation on GOOGL at a $330 price objective, highlighting Waymo’s accelerated growth trajectory
- Evercore ISI sustains its Outperform stance with a $400 target following survey data indicating Google’s search market share rose from 70% to 75% between August 2025 and March 2026
- ChatGPT’s portion of search traffic fell from 13% to 11% during the identical timeframe; 52% of generative AI adopters reported increasing their Google search usage
- Alphabet has declined approximately 7% since the beginning of the year and sits roughly 17% beneath its 52-week peak of $349, yet nearly 90% of Wall Street analysts maintain Buy ratings
Alphabet (GOOGL) shares retreated 2% during Thursday’s morning session to $285.27, pulled down by broader market turbulence. The S&P 500 declined 0.8% while the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 0.4%, as crude oil prices surged over 4%.
The decline occurred even as two separate Wall Street firms — Morgan Stanley and Evercore ISI — issued supportive research notes highlighting strength in both the Waymo autonomous vehicle division and core Google Search business.
Brian Nowak, analyst at Morgan Stanley, maintained his Buy recommendation alongside a $330 price objective, noting that “Waymo continues to scale faster than expected…leading with safety.” The company’s most recent disclosure, covering data through December 2025, reveals 170.7 million rider-only miles driven without human intervention.
This mileage total exceeded Morgan Stanley’s internal projections.
The safety metrics remain impressive as well. Waymo documented approximately a tenfold reduction in severe accidents and a fivefold decrease in injury-producing collisions when compared to human-driven vehicles.
Waymo presently functions across 10 American cities. Nowak anticipates 15 additional metropolitan areas will come online this year, complemented by fleet buildouts in current markets. Industry observers generally expect autonomous taxi activity to multiply at least twofold annually over the coming years.
Alphabet is deploying substantial capital to support this expansion. The company is forecast to allocate over $170 billion toward new equipment in 2026 — jumping from $91 billion in 2025 — based on FactSet estimates. That represents massive expenditure, even for an enterprise of this magnitude.
Google Search Maintains Market Position
Regarding search, Evercore ISI affirmed its Outperform rating alongside a $400 price objective following completion of its eighth quarterly proprietary search usage survey.
The findings revealed Google’s search market share expanding from 70% to 75% between August 2025 and March 2026. During that identical window, ChatGPT’s search presence contracted from 13% to 11%.
Evercore noted no significant shift in Google’s portion of commercial-intent queries — activities such as purchasing apparel or reserving travel — throughout the previous two-year period.
The firm increased conviction in its above-Street Google Search revenue growth projection of 14%-plus for 2026, compared against consensus estimates of 13%. The outlook incorporates anticipated high-single-digit expansion in both paid clicks and cost-per-click metrics.
One advertising client documented a conversion rate that doubled — rising from 7% in Q1 2025 to 14% in Q1 2026. Advertising expenditure patterns were generally stable or accelerating on a year-over-year basis entering Q1, although Evercore noted some hesitation developing over the past 10 days.
Current Stock Position
GOOGL has fallen approximately 7% year-to-date and trades roughly 17% below its 52-week high of $349, reached in February. The majority of this year’s decline has occurred since the Iran conflict escalated.
Despite the pullback, nearly 90% of Wall Street analysts covering the equity assign it a Buy rating — significantly above the standard 55%–60% Buy-rating proportion for S&P 500 constituents. The consensus analyst price target stands around $380, up from approximately $335 at the start of 2026.
Alphabet’s revenue expanded 15% over the trailing twelve months, with analysts projecting 17% growth for fiscal 2026. The equity currently trades at a P/E multiple of 26.91 with a PEG ratio of 0.77.
