Alphabet Inc.’s Class C shares (NASDAQ: GOOG)—often called “Google stock” by everyday investors—are back in the spotlight on December 16, 2025, with Wall Street analysts nudging price targets higher, fresh headlines tied to data-center power and cloud demand, and a steady drumbeat of regulatory risk that continues to shape the long-term debate around the company’s most valuable asset: Google Search.
As of today, GOOG was trading around $307.57 (intraday snapshot), modestly lower on the session. That price point places Alphabet at the center of one of the market’s biggest themes heading into 2026: whether the company can monetize AI-driven search experiences while scaling compute-intensive infrastructure—without sacrificing margins or getting squeezed by regulators.
Below is what’s moving Alphabet (GOOG) right now, what analysts are forecasting, and the practical catalysts investors are watching as 2025 winds down.
What “Alphabet Class C” means—and why GOOG trades alongside GOOGL
Alphabet has multiple share classes. In simple terms:
- GOOG (Class C) shares generally represent the same economic ownership as Class A shares, but Class C typically carries no voting rights.
- GOOGL (Class A) shares generally carry voting rights (commonly one vote per share).
- Class B shares (not publicly traded) are largely held by founders/insiders and typically carry outsized voting control.
In the market, GOOG and GOOGL usually trade very close to one another, because the underlying business exposure is effectively the same for most investors; the price gap—when it exists—often reflects the market’s changing view of voting rights value and share-class liquidity.
For headlines and analyst notes, you’ll often see research written on GOOGL (Class A) even when the investment community is discussing Alphabet broadly. For many readers, it’s still directly relevant to GOOG because both tickers track the same fundamentals.
Alphabet stock today: the key headlines driving GOOG on Dec. 16, 2025
1) BMO raises its Alphabet target again—cloud strength stays central
One of the most immediate “today” catalysts is a fresh analyst move: BMO Capital raised its price target to $343 (from $340) while keeping an Outperform rating, pointing to upbeat expectations around Google Cloud growth and stronger cloud “commitments.” [1]
Notably, BMO’s write-up highlights:
- A more optimistic view for Cloud growth into Q4 2025 and Q1 2026 (BMO cited updated estimates and “checks” supporting stronger demand). [2]
- The idea that AI adoption (including agentic workflows) can drive incremental cloud commitments, which matters because cloud backlog and contract visibility have become core pillars of the Alphabet bull case.
In plain English: if Google Cloud demand is accelerating, the market is more willing to underwrite Alphabet’s rising AI infrastructure spending—because the revenue engine to pay for it looks sturdier.
2) TotalEnergies signs a long-term renewable power deal tied to Google data centers in Malaysia
Alphabet’s AI and cloud ambitions ultimately run through one constraint: power. That’s why investors pay attention when big energy deals hit the tape.
Reuters reported today that TotalEnergies signed a 21-year agreement tied to supplying renewable electricity for Google data centers in Malaysia—a tangible reminder that the AI buildout is now intertwined with long-duration infrastructure planning. [3]
These types of agreements don’t typically swing quarterly earnings by themselves, but they matter for investor confidence in two ways:
- They reinforce that hyperscalers like Google are locking in reliable, scalable energy to support data-center expansion.
- They underscore that AI-led capex is not a “one quarter” story—it’s a multi-year industrial-scale push.
3) The broader power-and-compute race: NextEra expands with Google Cloud
This week’s energy theme isn’t just overseas. Reuters also reported that NextEra Energy expanded its partnership with Google Cloud with plans to develop multiple gigawatt-scale data center campuses, tying Google’s cloud/AI platform to NextEra’s data-center power buildout. [4]
For GOOG investors, the meta-signal is important: the largest buyers of compute are increasingly behaving like long-term infrastructure planners—securing power generation and site capacity as strategically as they secure chips.
Why bulls keep focusing on AI Search + Cloud: Alphabet’s own numbers set the backdrop
Alphabet’s last major official financial checkpoint remains its Q3 2025 results. Those results help explain why analysts have been comfortable lifting targets into year-end—even as regulatory risks remain.
Alphabet reported (for Q3 2025):
- Revenue: $102.3 billion, up 16% year-over-year [5]
- Google Cloud revenue: $15.2 billion, up 34% year-over-year [6]
- Diluted EPS: $2.87, up 35% [7]
- Updated 2025 capex expectation: $91–$93 billion, reflecting infrastructure buildout to meet demand [8]
Alphabet also highlighted scale metrics that matter to the 2026 story:
- CEO Sundar Pichai pointed to rapid AI product rollout and noted that Google Cloud ended the quarter with $155 billion in backlog. [9]
- Alphabet’s board declared a $0.21 quarterly cash dividend, payable (for that cycle) to holders of Class A, B, and Class C shares. [10]
Taken together, those numbers explain the market’s posture: Alphabet is spending aggressively, but it is also demonstrating the top-line momentum—especially in Cloud—that bulls argue can sustain the investment cycle.
AI Search is the center of the GOOG debate—and Google is publicly defending the model
The biggest strategic question around Alphabet stock is simple:
Does AI in Search expand the market—or cannibalize the click-and-ad model that built Google?
At the Reuters NEXT conference earlier this month, a Google Search executive pushed back on the narrative that AI-powered answers will destroy the web’s traffic economy. Reuters reported that Google’s Robby Stein described the shift as an “expansionary moment” and said outbound clicks are “largely stable,” framing AI search features as additive rather than destructive. [11]
That messaging matters for GOOG because:
- If AI answers reduce outbound clicks materially, publishers and regulators intensify pressure, and Google must prove it can monetize AI surfaces without breaking the ecosystem.
- If AI answers increase complex queries and engagement (Google’s argument), then Search becomes an even stronger distribution and monetization layer—especially if AI ad formats evolve successfully.
This tension is a major reason analyst targets have been rising while “risk discount” headlines keep appearing.
Analyst forecasts for Alphabet (GOOG): price targets climb, but the range is widening
Analyst optimism has been building into mid-December, and targets have crept higher as Wall Street increasingly frames Alphabet as a multi-engine AI compounder (Search + YouTube + Cloud + AI infrastructure).
Here are some of the most current and widely circulated target updates and bullish cases:
Targets around the mid-$300s: “AI is lifting engagement, Cloud is accelerating”
- TD Cowen raised its Alphabet target to $350 (from $335), maintaining a Buy rating, citing increased Gemini adoption and stronger search engagement tied to AI features. [12]
- BMO Capital raised its target to $343 today while keeping an Outperform rating, pointing to cloud checks and stronger cloud growth expectations. [13]
- A Barron’s report this week also highlighted TD Cowen’s move to $350, and noted strong positive sentiment across the Street. [14]
High-conviction bull cases: $400+ scenarios are now part of the mainstream conversation
- Barron’s recently highlighted a call where Pivotal Research lifted its target to a Street-high $400, arguing Alphabet is “winning everywhere” as AI monetization and product momentum improve. [15]
- A separate Yahoo Finance-hosted piece (syndicated from another outlet) said Morgan Stanley’s bull case target for Alphabet sits at $415. [16]
What the consensus looks like
According to Barron’s, FactSet data showed 64 of 76 analysts rating Alphabet a Buy, with none rating it a Sell (as cited in that report). [17]
What this means for GOOG investors: Alphabet is increasingly being treated like a “core AI holding” rather than a legacy ad platform—yet the spread between “base case” targets (~$340–$350) and “blue-sky” targets ($400+) shows investors are still debating just how large the AI-driven upside can be.
The biggest risks to the Alphabet stock story right now
Optimistic price targets don’t erase the most material risks hanging over Alphabet. In fact, much of the GOOG debate is about how to price them.
1) EU antitrust investigation tied to AI Overviews and content usage
Reuters reported that EU regulators launched an antitrust probe into Google’s use of publishers’ online content and YouTube videos for AI purposes, including concerns about compensation and the ability to opt out. Reuters also noted the potential for fines up to 10% of global annual revenue if wrongdoing is found. [18]
For investors, the risk isn’t only a fine—it’s the possibility of:
- Constraints on how Google trains models on third-party content,
- Requirements that change the economics of AI summaries in search,
- Or remedies that reshape the competitive playing field for AI assistants and discovery.
2) U.S. search antitrust remedies: behavioral limits, not a breakup—but still meaningful
A Congressional Research Service (CRS) legal analysis summarized a federal court remedies decision in the U.S. search antitrust litigation.
Key takeaways from the CRS summary include:
- The court rejected immediate divestitures (like Chrome) but imposed behavioral remedies. [19]
- Remedies include a prohibition on certain exclusive contracts related to distribution of Google Search (and certain products), while allowing default-placement payments under conditions such as non-exclusivity and one-year-or-less terms. [20]
- The decision also described data-sharing and syndication requirements intended to help qualified competitors improve results and “get off the ground.” [21]
Why it matters for GOOG: even “non-structural” remedies can change the unit economics of Search distribution and competitor access over multiple years—exactly the kind of long-duration uncertainty that can affect valuation multiples.
3) Cross-border legal and geopolitical exposure: French asset freeze linked to Russian rulings
Reuters reported that Google’s defunct Russian business administrator obtained a temporary freeze on about 110 million euros (~$129 million) of Alphabet-owned assets in France, based on Russian arbitration court rulings, according to official orders seen by Reuters. [22]
Alphabet is large enough that this alone is not existential. But it underscores the reality that:
- Geopolitical/legal spillovers can create unpredictable costs and distractions,
- And enforcement attempts may arise in multiple jurisdictions. [23]
4) Waymo: huge long-term optionality, but operational scrutiny continues
Alphabet’s autonomous driving unit remains one of the company’s most watched “Other Bets.” There’s clear growth, but also the expected regulatory/operational friction.
Reuters reported that Waymo recalled 3,067 vehicles due to a software issue, with the regulator citing risk related to vehicles driving past stopped school buses; the issue was addressed via an update. [24]
At the same time, Waymo itself reported major scale milestones in a December update:
- Serving over 1 million fully autonomous rides per month (starting this spring),
- Over 14 million trips so far in 2025,
- And aiming for that “1 million” level per week by the end of 2026. [25]
For GOOG shareholders, Waymo is a classic “option”: potentially very valuable if autonomy scales profitably, but periodically hit by safety scrutiny and regulatory attention.
5) The capex era: Alphabet is building like an infrastructure company
Alphabet is leaning into the AI spending cycle—explicitly. Reuters reported Alphabet appointed a longtime executive as a key AI infrastructure technologist as tech giants pour billions into compute, and referenced expectations that capex would top $90 billion by year-end. [26]
Meanwhile, Alphabet’s own Q3 release guided capex to $91–$93 billion for 2025. [27]
This is both:
- A bullish signal (Alphabet is confident enough in demand to invest heavily), and
- A risk (AI spending cycles can overshoot demand; power and hardware constraints can bite; margins can get pressured).
Why Google Cloud is now doing more “storytelling work” for the stock than ever
Historically, Alphabet’s valuation lived and died by Search advertising. That still matters most—but the stock narrative has broadened.
The reason analysts keep returning to Cloud is that it:
- Provides a clearer path to monetizing AI via enterprise spend,
- Helps justify infrastructure investments,
- And can diversify the revenue mix away from pure advertising cyclicality.
That’s why today’s analyst note (BMO) and recent target bumps (TD Cowen) both lean heavily on Cloud and AI adoption rather than only “ad market strength.” [28]
What to watch next for Alphabet (GOOG) into 2026
If you follow GOOG as an investor—or even as a business/tech reader—these are the forward-looking signposts that matter most:
- Evidence of AI monetization in Search
- Expansion of ad formats within AI experiences and whether those units monetize without alienating users or attracting harsher scrutiny. (Google has signaled ads will evolve in AI search experiences.) [29]
- Cloud growth durability
- Analysts are increasingly pricing in stronger cloud growth—so execution matters. [30]
- Regulatory timelines and remedy implementation
- The EU’s AI/content probe and the operational implications of U.S. behavioral remedies remain headline risks. [31]
- AI infrastructure scaling—and the “power problem”
- Data center buildouts depend on power availability, and Alphabet is now entering long-duration energy arrangements that resemble utility-scale planning. [32]
- Waymo expansion vs. safety headlines
- Growth metrics are impressive, but recall and regulator attention remain part of the journey. [33]
Bottom line: GOOG is trading like an AI infrastructure and monetization bet—because it is one
On Dec. 16, 2025, Alphabet’s Class C stock (GOOG) sits at the intersection of three powerful forces:
- A strengthening bull case driven by AI-led engagement in Search and accelerating Cloud demand (reflected in rising targets like $343 and $350, and even $400–$415 bull scenarios). [34]
- A massive infrastructure buildout where capex and energy supply have become first-order topics for equity valuation. [35]
- Persistent regulatory and legal risk, especially around Search distribution practices and AI’s impact on publishers and competitors. [36]
For readers tracking “Google stock” into 2026, the most important question isn’t whether Alphabet is doing AI—it clearly is. The question is whether Alphabet can prove that AI makes Search bigger (and more monetizable) while Cloud continues to scale fast enough to justify the spend—and whether regulators let the company keep the playbook that made Search so dominant in the first place. [37]
References
1. www.investing.com, 2. www.investing.com, 3. www.reuters.com, 4. www.reuters.com, 5. s206.q4cdn.com, 6. s206.q4cdn.com, 7. s206.q4cdn.com, 8. s206.q4cdn.com, 9. s206.q4cdn.com, 10. s206.q4cdn.com, 11. www.reuters.com, 12. www.investing.com, 13. www.investing.com, 14. www.barrons.com, 15. www.barrons.com, 16. finance.yahoo.com, 17. www.barrons.com, 18. www.reuters.com, 19. www.congress.gov, 20. www.congress.gov, 21. www.congress.gov, 22. www.reuters.com, 23. www.reuters.com, 24. www.reuters.com, 25. waymo.com, 26. www.reuters.com, 27. s206.q4cdn.com, 28. www.investing.com, 29. www.reuters.com, 30. www.investing.com, 31. www.reuters.com, 32. www.reuters.com, 33. waymo.com, 34. www.investing.com, 35. s206.q4cdn.com, 36. www.congress.gov, 37. www.reuters.com
