Google Future Divides Wall Street As AI Hype Meets Skepticism

Wall Street remains sharply divided on Alphabet Inc‘s GOOGL AI future.

What Happened: At a Bank of America Securities-hosted debate attended by over 200 investors, bulls praised Google's data advantage and monetization potential, while bears raised alarms over engagement losses to rivals like ChatGPT, monetization risks, and management opacity.

Analyst Justin Post maintained Google parent Alphabet with a Buy with a price target of $200 on Thursday.

Post hosted an AI-centric bull and bear debate on Alphabet, attended by over 200 investors. Overall sentiment on the stock was mixed, with concerns ranging from share loss and monetization challenges to Apple Inc’s AAPL reaction to the Department of Justice trial outcome.

Also Read: Why Google’s AI Shift Could Redefine Search, And Make Clicks Less Relevant

The Bear Take: Bears highlighted engagement loss and a possible estimate reset. They flagged growing engagement losses to platforms like ChatGPT and concerns about the monetization potential of AI Overviews and DOJ search case outcomes.

Unlike its Big Tech rivals, they raised questions on management execution and a lack of transparency.

The Bull Take: Meanwhile, Bulls pointed to a 1P data advantage and non-search upside.

Bulls highlighted that Google’s deep ecosystem integration and 1P data create defensibility as foundational models commoditize. They also noted that Google’s strong monetization is underpinned by proprietary commercial intent signals and long-standing publisher relationships, which provide an edge over AI platforms that rely on scraped web content. Bulls noted that consumer behavior still aligns with search listings.

Regulatory clarity on the Search case could enable Google to act more aggressively in AI rollouts, they argued. Bulls suggest that Google’s non-search segments (Cloud, YouTube, and Waymo) are underappreciated.

What’s Next? Some proposed more visibility on multi-year plans — like Meta Platforms META — to drive usage to Google as a starting place.

Others suggested management action, including more dynamic movement of users to AI Mode, more competitive AI subscription pricing (Google has deep pockets), or more promotion of Gemini with advertising or on Google properties.

Post noted OpenAI as a strong competitor, and its ad launch is perceived as a threat. At the same time, uncertainty about Apple’s actions following the DOJ decision will likely remain a near-term overhang.

Price Action: GOOGL stock is up 1.12% at $172.59 at last check Thursday.

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