Alphabet stock (NASDAQ: GOOG) soared nearly 5% on Thursday, after the tech giant delivered a resounding beat on its third quarter results, shattering expectations and igniting a wave of bullish sentiment across Wall Street.
The search and advertising company posted its first-ever $100 billion revenue quarter, reaching $102.35 billion, surpassing analyst estimates of $99.94 billion, while earnings per share came in at $2.87, significantly exceeding expectations of $2.26.
The latest surge and massive Q3 beat cemented Alphabet’s position as one of 2025’s top-performing tech giants with a year-to-date rally of 45%.
Alphabet stock: Cloud and AI bets drive fresh momentum
The real surprise this quarter came from Google Cloud, which posted $15.16 billion in revenue, up 34% year-over-year and well above analyst expectations of $14.75 billion.
That kind of growth shows Alphabet’s massive infrastructure bets are finally paying off, as more enterprises turn to Google’s AI-powered cloud services.
CEO Sundar Pichai called it the result of a “full-stack approach to AI,” pointing to the growing momentum behind Gemini.
He also revealed a jaw-dropping stat: Alphabet is now processing over 1.3 quadrillion tokens every month, up 20 times from last year.
Even more impressive, the company’s cloud backlog surged to a record $155 billion, jumping 46% in just one quarter. That signals strong, ongoing demand that could fuel results well into next year.
Elsewhere, the company’s core businesses didn’t disappoint either.
Search advertising brought in $56.6 billion, up 14% and ahead of forecasts, while YouTube ads climbed 15% to $10.3 billion, showing clear signs of a rebound.
And Alphabet’s big AI push is becoming more visible by the day, the Gemini app has now topped 650 million monthly users, and AI-powered search is attracting over 75 million daily users across 40 languages.
It’s a clear sign that the company’s strategy to blend AI into its core products is starting to deliver real results.
Why analysts are bullish
The earnings report triggered a cascade of bullish analyst revisions.
Oppenheimer raised its price target to $345, representing approximately 25% upside from current levels, citing “strengthening AI tailwinds” across core businesses and acceleration in search growth.
Guggenheim boosted its target to $330, while Susquehanna set ambitious expectations at $350, acknowledging Alphabet’s expanding AI moat.
The consensus price target now sits at $292.16, with 33 analysts maintaining buy ratings and only 10 hold ratings.
Analysts are getting more bullish on Alphabet, seeing it as one of the best-positioned players in big tech right now, even compared to heavyweights like Meta and Amazon.
What really sets Alphabet apart is its diverse revenue mix. It’s not just about search anymore; YouTube and Google Cloud are strong growth engines in their own right.
Add to that the Gemini AI platform and Alphabet’s custom-built AI infrastructure, and you’ve got an edge that’s hard for rivals to match.
The company’s cloud business is picking up speed, with a 34% growth rate and a growing backlog that signals strong demand from enterprise clients.
Even while investing heavily in AI, Alphabet continues to deliver impressive profit margins, balancing short-term stability with long-term innovation.
In a tech world that often forces a trade-off between growth and profitability, Alphabet seems to be managing both.
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