Alphabet shares rally as Wall Street analysts upbeat following Google I/O developer conference

Analysts reacting to Alphabet-owned (NASDAQ:) Google’s keynote event at its annual multi-day developer conference Google I/O, have pushed the stock more than 4% higher Thursday.

Goldman Sachs analysts explained that Google announced a number of new products, services and features across Search, YouTube, Maps, Workspace, Google Cloud, Android & Pixel hardware devices.

“A key theme during this year’s Google I/O keynote was the integration of (generative) AI elements into its core services while demonstrating new areas of AI application and use cases for consumers and enterprise customers,” they wrote. “We came away increasingly constructive on Alphabet’s long-term strategic positioning in a number of key end markets and continue to see the company as the leading collection of AI/machine learning-driven businesses in our coverage universe.”

At Jefferies, analysts went further, stating Wednesday’s Google I/O developer conference “was one of the most substantial in years.”

“Redeeming itself after a disappointing Paris event in Feb., Google presented a much more coherent message about its generative AI strategy, with updates reaching across both consumer and business use cases, and advances seen in the core Search, Workspace, Google Cloud, and Android. We see momentum accelerating, and monetization before year-end,” said analysts, who have a Buy rating and a $130 price target on Alphabet.

Evercore ISI analysts said Google took the AI gloves off and “reminded everyone of how long it has been investing in, developing, and deploying AI capabilities across all of its offerings.”

“Earlier this year, Microsoft attempted to alter the AI narrative and position itself as the leader in AI development based in part on its investment in and collaboration with OpenAI. Google just took that narrative back,” declared analysts. “We don’t believe there will be only one AI winner. We just believe the narrative that Google would be Generative AI roadkill was just plain wrong and ignoring the years of AI and ML-related investments that Google has made, including a major capex cycle that began at least as far back as 2018.”