Skip to content

CFDs are leveraged products. CFD trading may not be suitable for everyone and can result in losses that exceed your deposits, so please ensure that you fully understand the risks involved. CFDs are leveraged products. CFD trading may not be suitable for everyone and can result in losses that exceed your deposits, so please ensure that you fully understand the risks involved.

Alphabet Q1 2024 earnings preview: generative AI's role in shaping future growth

Alphabet Inc is set to unveil its Q1 2024 earnings, highlighting significant strides in cloud computing and the anticipated impact of generative AI on its services.

Source: Getty

When will Alphabet report its latest earnings?

Alphabet Inc is scheduled to report its first quarter (Q1) 2024 earnings after the market closes on Friday, 26 April 2024 at 4.00am SGT (GMT +8).

The role of Generative AI in Alphabet

Analysts are projecting revenues of $69.787 billion and earnings per share (EPS) of $1.89. While the company's services segment is expected to deliver a flat performance, Alphabet's cloud computing division is experiencing significant growth, highlighting the company's efforts to diversify its revenue streams.

The market is particularly interested in Alphabet's strategy and progress in integrating generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) into its search and advertising services, as this could be a key driver of future growth. Despite the short-term correction in Alphabet's stock price, the company's Class C shares maintain an average 12-month price target of $168.64 among analysts, and the stock remains in a long-term uptrend, suggesting investor confidence in the company's prospects.

What ‘the Street’ expects from Alphabet's Q1 results?

A Refinitiv poll of analyst estimates (as of 18 April 2024) arrives at the following conclusions:

  • Revenue for the quarter is expected to be US$69.787 billion
  • Earnings per share for the quarter are predicted to be US$1.89

Google’s services segment remains the largest contributor to revenue, with US$61.961 billion expected, and is anticipated to remain roughly flat year-on-year. Google’s cloud segment is forecast to be the growth driver for the group, adding around 28% year-on-year revenue growth, reaching a figure of US$7.546 billion.

The group's ‘Other Bets’ division is expected to see a 35% contraction in its revenue contribution to the group at around US$288 million.

Markets will be looking for further news around the company’s involvement and integration of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) into search and ads services. Capital expenditure will also likely be a key focus, relative to investment into cloud and AI, particularly in light of recent cost-cutting initiatives.

How to trade Alphabet results

Based on 11 Wall Street analysts offering 12-month price targets for Alphabet Class C in the last three months, the average price target is US$168.64, with a high forecast of US$185.00 and a low forecast of US$160.00. The average price target represents a 7.50% change from the last price of US$156.87. 89% of IG client accounts with open positions on Alphabet, as of 18 April 2024, expect the price to rise in the near term, while 11% expect the price to fall.

Wall Street analysts see further gains ahead

Source: IG TipRanks

IG Client sentiment chart

Source: IG

Alphabet (Class C) technical analysis

The share price of Alphabet remains in a long-term uptrend. In the near term, we are observing a correction of this uptrend from recent highs and overbought territory.

Trend followers might wait for this period of weakness to play out before looking for a long entry in line with the longer-term uptrend. Confirmation that the short-term correction has concluded, and that the longer-term uptrend is resuming, might be identified by a bullish price reversal closer to either the US$149.90 or US$142.30 support levels. In this scenario, channel resistance provides a longer-term upside target of around US$166.40.

Alphabet daily chart

Source: IG

IGA, may distribute information/research produced by its respective foreign affiliates within the IG Group of companies pursuant to an arrangement under Regulation 32C of the Financial Advisers Regulations. Where the research is distributed in Singapore to a person who is not an Accredited Investor, Expert Investor or an Institutional Investor, IGA accepts legal responsibility for the contents of the report to such persons only to the extent required by law. Singapore recipients should contact IGA at 6390 5118 for matters arising from, or in connection with the information distributed.

The information/research herein is prepared by IG Asia Pte Ltd (IGA) and its foreign affiliated companies (collectively known as the IG Group) and is intended for general circulation only. It does not take into account the specific investment objectives, financial situation, or particular needs of any particular person. You should take into account your specific investment objectives, financial situation, and particular needs before making a commitment to trade, including seeking advice from an independent financial adviser regarding the suitability of the investment, under a separate engagement, as you deem fit.

No representation or warranty is given as to the accuracy or completeness of this information. Consequently, any person acting on it does so entirely at their own risk. Please see important Research Disclaimer.

Please also note that the information does not contain a record of our trading prices, or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instrument. Any views and opinions expressed may be changed without an update.

Explore the markets with our free course

Discover and learn how the range of markets you can trade on with IG Academy's online course – ‘Introducing the financial markets’.

Try IG Academy

Put learning into action

Try out what you’ve learned in this shares strategy article risk-free in your demo account.

Try it out

Ready to trade shares?

Put the lessons in this article to use in a live account – upgrading is quick and easy.

  • Trade on over 10,000 popular global stocks
  • Protect your capital with risk management tools
  • React to breaking news with out-of-hours trading on 70 key US stocks
Create live account

Inspired to trade?

Put your new knowledge into practice. Log in to your account now.

Log in now

Live prices on most popular markets

  • Forex
  • Shares
  • Indices

Prices above are subject to our website terms and agreements. Prices are indicative only. All shares prices are delayed by at least 15 mins.

Prices above are subject to our website terms and agreements. Prices are indicative only. All shares prices are delayed by at least 20 mins.

The Momentum Report

Get the week’s momentum report sent directly to your inbox every Tuesday for FREE. The Week Ahead gives you a full calendar of upcoming key events to monitor in the coming week, as well as commentary and insight from our expert analysts on the major indices to watch.

For more info on how we might use your data, see our privacy notice and access policy and privacy webpage.

You might be interested in…

<h3>How much does trading cost?</h3>
<h3>Find out about IG</h3>
<h3>Plan your trading</h3>

Find out what charges your trades could incur with our transparent fee structure.

Discover why so many clients choose us, and what makes us a world-leading provider of CFDs.

Stay on top of upcoming market-moving events with our customisable economic calendar.