TLDR
- Warren Buffett confirmed on CNBC he personally initiated Berkshire Hathaway’s Alphabet investment, now worth ~$31 billion
- GOOGL rose 1.8% in morning trading, hitting a session high of $366.08
- KeyBanc raised its GOOGL price target to $445 from $425 ahead of Q2 2026 earnings on July 22
- Zacks upgraded Alphabet from “hold” to “strong-buy”; average analyst target sits at $413.73
- Alphabet’s cloud backlog hit $462 billion in Q1 2026, nearly doubling sequentially
Alphabet (GOOGL) stock climbed 1.8% Tuesday morning, hitting a session high of $366.08, after Warren Buffett told CNBC he personally pulled the trigger on Berkshire Hathaway’s now-massive stake in the Google parent.
Buffett’s exact words: “I initiated it.” That ended any speculation that the trade belonged to incoming CEO Greg Abel. Buffett added that both he and Abel approve all decisions jointly, so this is very much a shared conviction — just one that started at the top.
Berkshire first disclosed the Alphabet position in Q3 2025. Since then, it has grown steadily, including a $10 billion private placement earlier this year tied to Alphabet’s AI infrastructure build-out. Total Berkshire exposure to Alphabet now stands at roughly $31 billion.
The stock’s 52-week low was $180.48. It’s now trading above $366. That’s how much the sentiment picture has changed in a year.
Analyst Community Piles On
KeyBanc analyst Justin Patterson raised his price target on GOOGL to $445 from $425 ahead of the Q2 2026 earnings report due July 22. His view: Wall Street is underestimating the staying power of Google Search and Google Cloud.
Zacks Research also upgraded Alphabet from “hold” to “strong-buy” on Monday. That adds to an already crowded bull camp — 47 analysts have a Buy rating, three have Strong Buy, and just five have a Hold. The average price target across the Street is $413.73.
Other recent target raises include DBS Bank lifting to $460, Loop Capital going to $490 with a Buy, and Royal Bank of Canada sitting at $425 with an Outperform rating.
Alphabet’s last quarterly report gave analysts plenty to work with. The company posted EPS of $5.11, blowing past the $2.64 consensus. Revenue came in at $109.9 billion versus the $106.98 billion estimate. Net margin was 37.92% and return on equity hit 38.99%.
Cloud Backlog and AI Push
Alphabet’s cloud backlog reached $462 billion in Q1 2026 — nearly doubling sequentially. That number is drawing attention as investors look ahead to the July 22 earnings call.
On the product side, Google rolled out Gemini AI features to Chrome desktop users in the UK and launched a Pinterest-style redesign of Google Images. Neither is a market-mover on its own, but both add to the broader AI narrative heading into earnings.
The broader market was positive on the day — S&P 500 up 0.4%, Dow up 0.4%, Nasdaq up 0.7% — but Alphabet outpaced all three, reflecting the company-specific nature of the Buffett catalyst.
Institutional holders remain active. Hedge funds and institutional investors own 40.03% of the stock. Norges Bank added a new position worth over $30 billion in Q4. Vanguard increased its holding by 2.4% to over 528 million shares.
Insiders, however, have been selling — 159,415 units worth $7.67 million over the past 90 days. CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 units at $341.72 on June 26.
Analysts forecast full-year EPS of $14.32 for Alphabet. Q2 2026 earnings are due July 22.
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