Dillon Valdez
Growth Investor, Public Portfolio Journal
Alphabet is still not expensive for its growth, and a dominant grower can be less risky than a familiar slow one. Staples like Coca-Cola, Clorox and Procter & Gamble trade at premium forward multiples despite going nowhere, while a slow company at 28x can be far riskier than a dominant grower at 22x. The market pays for mispriced future cash flows, not familiarity. x.com
Alphabet's earnings growth makes its valuation look attractive. It trades at 21x forward earnings and a 0.47 PEG while EPS grows 34% year over year; shares are down almost 9% year to date. Search still grows 12% and Cloud grows 103%, undercutting the concern that Search will sink the business. x.com x.com
Alphabet's vertical integration and moat make its current valuation attractive. Its forward P/E is 19.78, below the 22.51 median shown since 2019. Alphabet is also valued below Tesla and SpaceX combined, despite the chart showing Google's quarterly revenue far exceeding theirs; that comparison does not add up. x.com x.com
Alphabet's higher capex guidance compounds the risk that already demanding revenue estimates must fall. The Street expected 25% revenue growth in 2027 and 21% in 2028; as 2028 earnings consensus resets, a 10% stock decline could be justified. x.com
Alphabet's rapid cloud growth and diverse profit sources make it a long-term buy below 20x forward earnings. Cloud grew 103% this quarter, despite short-term fears about search and heavy spending. x.com
Alphabet is a great business. x.com
Alphabet's core Search growth is slowing while AI spending surges, making the selloff look deserved despite fast Cloud growth. Search growth fell from 19% to 17% to 12% over three quarters; Search now represents just under half of revenue. The stock could fall to $250, though Amazon is the preferred buy. x.com x.com x.com x.com x.com
Alphabet offers attractive risk/reward because its earlier equity raise suppressed the shares despite strong growth. The $80B-plus raise should suffice for now; another next year is uncertain. Search grew 17% in the prior results, while cloud revenue more than doubled in the latest. Investment losses, not the business, hit EPS; weaker free cash flow puts investors off. A search slowdown would be a warning flag, though Gemini and other businesses could soften the blow. x.com x.com x.com x.com … Show more
Alphabet's businesses beyond search are why it will lead the real AI boom. Google Cloud, DeepMind and Waymo broaden its reach, and its $900 million SpaceX investment is now worth $85 billion. Fear emerging as the shares fall is an opportunity; a decline toward the buy zone is welcome, even as Q3 capex has taken a large hit out of free cash flow. x.com x.com x.com x.com
Alphabet now looks like a shale company that cannot stop spending on negative-ROIC investments, the habit that left shale drillers trading at 3x EBITDA. Per @TheStalwart, Alphabet is raising $80 billion of equity, including $10 billion from Berkshire Hathaway in a private placement, to expand its AI infrastructure, much as shale firms funded negative-ROIC wells with any capital available. This AI mania may go on longer. x.com x.com
Alphabet's 80%+ cloud growth was far beyond what the market had priced in. Negative free cash flow and higher capex will overshadow the good news short term, but Google will be fine, and further selloffs are something to be excited about. x.com
