Wells Fargo analyst Ken Gawrelski bumped up its price target on Google parent company Alphabet’s stock. However, he also kept an “Equal Weight” rating, believing that the company can’t replicate its “prior prosperity” in the future.
Gawrelski has set a price target on Alphabet’s stock at $187 compared to his previous price target of $168. This still indicates a slide based on the stock’s Friday closing price of $190.60 per share.
According to Gawrelski, the “favorable catalyst” that pushed Alphabet’s stock up is now diminishing.
Additionally, Gawrelski believes that the upcoming uncertainty in the search market caused by the format transition to conversation search, as well as increased competition by AI-powered search engines, will hamper the company.
“Competitors are likely to bid aggressively for Google’s search distribution partnerships, driving profitability lower. Even if Google maintains search leadership, we do not expect the company to replicate its prior prosperity in the next decade,” he added.
Unlike Gawrelski, the majority of other analysts still remain high on Alphabet’s stock, which is 36.49% up year to date. Out of 62 analysts surveyed by FactSet, 47 have a “Buy” rating on the stock. There are 15 “Hold” ratings with no “Sell” rating.