GOOGL Stock Records Best Month In Nearly 22 Years On AI Boost

• Google stock soared 34% in April, its best month since 2004.
• Cloud revenues grew 63% in Q1. 
• Cars with Google AI assistant to get upgraded with Gemini.

Google parent Alphabet’s (GOOGL) stock soared to record highs to hit its best month since 2004 as investors cheered robust quarterly earnings amid soaring cloud business revenues. 

Google’s parent company reported Q1 revenue, excluding partner payouts, at $94.7 billion, compared with the $91.6 billion expected on average by analysts, according to data compiled by Fiscal.ai. The company reported earnings of  $5.11 per share, compared with Wall Street’s $2.62 estimate. 

“Our AI investments and full-stack approach are lighting up every part of the business,” said Sundar Pichai, CEO of Alphabet and Google, in its earnings release on Wednesday.

GOOGL shares gained about 10% on Thursday to end the month 34% higher to record its best month in nearly 22 years as investors celebrate the firm's developments made in the AI space.

Separately, on Thursday, Google announced in a blog post that vehicles equipped with Google Assistant will receive an upgrade to incorporate Google’s Gemini AI Assistant. 

The upgrade will enable drivers to ask for directions and carry out several car-related functions in a human-like conversational tone, rather than using rigid voice commands.

GOOGL Analyst View

Morgan Stanley raised its price target on Alphabet (GOOGL) to $375 from $330 and maintained an ‘Overweight’ rating. “Alphabet's cloud businesses are surging,” Morgan Stanley told investors in a research note. 

Barclays analyst Ross Sandler raised his price target on GOOGL by $45 to $405, implying an upside of nearly 16% as of Wednesday’s close, and maintained his ‘Overweight’ rating.

According to a report by TheFly, Barclays said Alphabet has an "incredible position across the entire AI stack," which drove "best-in-4-years" growth and margins for nearly all its business units. 

Several other brokerages, including Oppenheimer, Goldman Sachs, Evercore ISI, RBC Capital, and Needham, also raised their respective target prices on GOOGL stock. 

GOOGL Retail View 

Retail sentiment on Stocktwits was ‘extremely bullish’ with ‘extremely high’ message volumes. 

One user highlighted the company’s ‘insane’ profitability 

The stock has gained 22% year-to-date.

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