Alphabet Inc (GOOGL) stock analysis
Alphabet Inc (GOOGL) clears 5 of this site's 8 mechanical value filters, 6 of 8 Buffett-style checks and 2 of 5 Lynch-style checks. At $324.22 it trades 262.3% above this site's neutral DCF value (a margin of safety of -262.3%). Its earnings quality rates Strong and it returns +0.8% to shareholders net of dilution. Figures are as of October 23, 2026, from SEC filings and market data refreshed weekly; this is educational analysis, not investment advice.
Data as of October 23, 2026. Refreshed weekly from SEC filings and market data.
What does Alphabet do?
Alphabet is the parent of Google. It earns most of its money from advertising on Google Search, YouTube and its ad network, and sells cloud computing through Google Cloud. It also funds long-shot bets such as self-driving company Waymo.
Brands and businesses it owns
- YouTube
- Android
- Chrome
- Google Maps
- Google Cloud
- Gemini
- Waymo
- Fitbit
- Nest
What stands out about Alphabet?
- The share price implies more than 40% yearly growth. At $324.22, free cash flow per share would have to grow faster than 40% a year, fading to 2.5% by year 10, for this site's DCF to match the price. Change the assumptions.
- Misses 1 of the 8 value filters. It fails Price/Sales < 7 (8.94); the other 5 pass and 2 were not evaluated. See every filter.
- Strongest against peers: net margin. At 54.8% (peer median 8.7%) it ranks 1st of 13 among media stocks this site tracks. See the ranking.
- Weakest against peers: dividend yield. At 0.26% (peer median 1.06%) it ranks 7th of 7 among media stocks this site tracks. See the ranking.
- Held by investors this site follows. Li Lu (24.6% of its portfolio), Warren Buffett (9.4% of its portfolio) and Dan Loeb (7.9% of its portfolio), from their latest 13F filings. See Superinvestors.
How has Alphabet's share price moved?
The interactive price chart needs JavaScript.
Is Alphabet undervalued? The value diligence check
Every value-investing signal this site computes for this stock, gathered in one place: the same real numbers from the tools below, not a new score.
- Margin of safety (DCF) -262.3%
- P/E vs. its own history 16.3x · at/below its cheapest point Real range: 19.4x–28.9x over 5 years (net income per diluted share from each fiscal year's 10-K, paired with the real closing price at that fiscal year-end).
- Wall St. analyst rating Buy · 4.21/5 67 analysts this month: 20 strong buy, 41 buy, 6 hold, 0 sell, 0 strong sell (Finnhub). Up from 4.19 last month.
- Altman Z″-Score (bankruptcy risk) 6.79 · Safe zone
- Earnings quality (is the profit real?) Strong · 1 watch Beneish M-score −2.63 · accruals −6.2% of assets · 128% of profit arrived as cash · stock comp 6.2% of revenue · share count −2.0% a year. From the latest 10-K (year to Dec 2025) - see the Earnings Quality Screener for how each check is scored.
- Shareholder yield (cash back to owners) +0.8% net Latest fiscal year (2025): dividends 0.3% + buybacks 1.1% − stock comp 0.6%, as a share of today's market cap. Over 14 years its split-adjusted share count fell 7%. See Shareholder Yield Leaders.
- Capital needed to grow (See's test) $1.65 per $1 of new profit · FlightSafety-like Operating profit $26B → $109B, capital needed $63B → $199B, 2016–2025 (3-year averages); return on capital now 55% before tax. Buffett's See's Candies needed $0.42 per $1 of new profit, FlightSafety $3.20, a typical grower about $5. See Capital-Light Compounders.
- PEG (growth at a reasonable price) 1.13 · Above fair P/E 16.3× ÷ 14.4% a year of growth behind it. 115th lowest of 447 stocks with a usable PEG. Lynch's fair value is a PEG of 1; a very high PEG usually means almost no growth, a very low one a profit spike. See PEG Ratio Ranking.
- Compounder lenses (4) 3 of 4 · misses cash back Capital-light growth: cleared; Profit is real: cleared; Cash to owners: not cleared (+1.0% a year net); Fair price (PEG): cleared. See Compounders at a Fair Price, which also lets you move the PEG bar.
- Value trap check Clear
- Munger's Inversion Check 1 flag
- Standing vs. sector peers 5 of 7 measures above the median Compared with the 12 other media stocks this site tracks: 5 in the top third, 2 in the bottom third.
- Dividend payout sustainability 0/6 · clean
How does Alphabet compare with its peers?
5 of 7 measures sit above the median of the 12 other media stocks tracked here, 5 in the top third and 2 in the bottom third.
- P/E ratiolower is cheaper · peer median 26.1× 16.3× ✓3rd of 11
- Free-cash-flow yieldhigher is cheaper · peer median 4.8% 1.6% ✕11th of 13
- Return on equityhigher is better · peer median 15% 51% ✓2nd of 13
- Net marginhigher is better · peer median 8.7% 54.8% ✓1st of 13
- Revenue growthhigher is better, year on year · peer median 10.8% 20.1% ✓4th of 13
- Debt / equitylower is safer · peer median 0.57 0.15 ✓2nd of 13
- Dividend yieldamong dividend payers · peer median 1.06% 0.26% ✕7th of 7
Peers are the stocks this site tracks in the same sector group, not every listed competitor. The bar runs from the weakest peer (left) to the strongest (right); the tick is the middle. Measures that don't apply to a sector (cash-flow yield for banks, debt for financials) are left out.
What would Buffett & Lynch say?
Buffett's checklist is built around durable, profitable businesses bought at sensible prices, and GOOGL doesn't clear enough of it yet. In its favor: GOOGL is currently earning a strong return on shareholders' equity, and has kept that profitability up over five years, not just this year, carries a conservative amount of debt relative to equity, converts sales into profit at healthy margins, has grown earnings per share at a solid clip over five years, and earns many times its interest expense, so debt service isn't a worry. Where it comes up short: GOOGL is trading above what a conservative discounted-cash-flow estimate says it's worth right now, and trades rich relative to owner earnings, the real cash the business could pay out.
- ROE (TTM) > 11% ✓
- ROE (5yr avg) > 11% ✓
- Debt/Equity < 0.5 ✓
- Pretax margin > 15% ✓
- EPS growth (5yr) > 7% ✓
- Interest coverage > 5x ✓
- Trading below intrinsic value (DCF) ✕
- Price vs. owner earnings < 25x ✕
- Bonus: returning capital via buybacks FY2025
Lynch looked for growth stories that weren't overpriced for that growth, and GOOGL falls short of his bar. In its favor: GOOGL isn't leaning on debt to fund that growth, and isn't asking too much even by a fast grower's usual richer multiple. Where it comes up short: GOOGL doesn't clear the tighter PEG bar a fast grower needs to justify its pace, is growing earnings outside the 20-50% band he considered sustainable for a fast grower - either not fast enough to earn the label, or a pace he'd flag as unlikely to hold up, and isn't generating enough free cash flow to justify a fast grower's richer price.
- PEG < 1 (stricter for fast growers) ✕
- EPS growth 20%-50% ✕
- Debt/Equity < 0.5 ✓
- P/E < 40 ✓
- Price/FCF < 40 ✕
Quantitative approximations of each investor's documented approach, not endorsed by either investor or their estates - commentary, not this site's actual ranking criteria. Buffett never published a numeric checklist: only 2 of his 8 checks here trace to his own documented concepts ("owner earnings," from his 1986 shareholder letter, and "price is what you pay, value is what you get," his case against fixed P/E/P/B ceilings) - the other 6 (ROE, debt, margins, growth, interest coverage) use commonly-cited thresholds that are not numbers he himself published. The 8 hard filters below (plus the Munger check and Graham margin of safety) are this site's real, mechanical screen and are computed completely independently of the checklists above.
Berkshire Hathaway's own filing
From Berkshire Hathaway's SEC 13F-HR filing dated 2026-08-14, compared with its 2026-05-15 filing - its own disclosed position, separate from this site's Buffett-style checklist above. 13F filings cover only U.S.-listed equity holdings and can lag the real portfolio by up to 45 days.
Which of the 8 value filters does Alphabet pass?
- Market Cap > $25B $3.99T
- Trailing P/E < 25 16.32
- PEG Ratio < 1.5 1.13
- Price/Book < 8 6.22
- Price/Sales < 7 8.94
- EPS Growth YoY > -5% +294.3%
- vs 50-day MA (±12%) Not evaluated †
- vs 200-day MA (±12%) Not evaluated †
What is Alphabet's margin of safety?
-286% on 2026-10-07 → -262% on 2026-10-23 (5 weekly readings).
Where is Alphabet in its 52-week range?
What is the short interest in Alphabet?
80,391,960 shares short as of 2026-09-30 (FINRA settlement date). Reported twice a month, so this only changes roughly every two weeks, not daily.
What could go wrong with Alphabet? Munger's inversion check
"Invert, always invert." Instead of reasons to buy, these are reasons to hesitate, not a verdict, and not everything worth knowing about a business.
- Margin of safety, even in the bull case -114%
- Short interest under 5% of float 1.4%
- Passes most of the 6 fundamental filters 5/6 passed
- Price run-up backed by value, not just momentum +37% off 52wk low
- Debt/equity stable since 2016 0.03 → 0.12
Doesn't cover circle of competence, management quality, or accounting concerns: those need judgment, not data.
How much have Alphabet shareholders gained per year?
Earnings growth per share plus dividend.
An earnings-based proxy, not a stock-price total return - it doesn't capture multiple expansion/contraction or reinvested dividends. EPS from GOOGL's own 10-K filings; dividend yield is the current trailing yield on today's price, from the same weekly fetch as the rest of this site.
What do Alphabet's 10-year financials show?
From GOOGL's own 10-K filings (SEC EDGAR): up to the last 10 fiscal years. Press any year's bars for the exact figures.
A single trade isn't automatically bullish or bearish. Insiders sell for all kinds of personal reasons. Most recent filings for GOOGL:
Frequently asked questions about Alphabet
What kind of company is Alphabet?
Alphabet is the parent of Google. It earns most of its money from advertising on Google Search, YouTube and its ad network, and sells cloud computing through Google Cloud. It also funds long-shot bets such as self-driving company Waymo. Brands and businesses it owns include Google, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Google Maps and Google Cloud. This site groups it with Media stocks.
Is Alphabet trading above or below its DCF value?
At $324.22, GOOGL trades 262.3% above this site's neutral DCF value of $89.49 per share, a margin of safety of −262.3%. That DCF projects free cash flow for 10 years, with growth starting at 8% and fading to 2.5%, discounted at 10%; it is one set of assumptions, not a forecast. Test your own in the Intrinsic Value Calculator.
How many of this site's 8 value filters does Alphabet pass?
GOOGL passes 5 of 8. It passes Market Cap > $25B ($3.99T), Trailing P/E < 25 (16.32), PEG Ratio < 1.5 (1.13), Price/Book < 8 (6.22) and EPS Growth YoY > -5% (+294.3%). It misses Price/Sales < 7 (8.94). vs 50-day MA (±12%) and vs 200-day MA (±12%) were not evaluated, because the moving-average checks only run on stocks that clear the fundamentals first. The 8-filter list shows every stock that passes all of them.
Are Alphabet's reported earnings reliable?
This site's earnings-quality check rates GOOGL Strong · 1 watch. Beneish M-score −2.63 · accruals −6.2% of assets · 128% of profit arrived as cash · stock comp 6.2% of revenue · share count −2.0% a year. From the latest 10-K (year to Dec 2025). Concerns: stock-based compensation (on watch). The five checks are the Beneish M-score (manipulation risk), accruals, cash conversion, stock-based compensation and share dilution; the Earnings Quality Screener shows how each is graded.
Which well-known investors own Alphabet?
Among the investors whose SEC 13F filings this site tracks, Li Lu (24.6% of the portfolio; unchanged), Warren Buffett (9.4% of the portfolio; added to the position), Dan Loeb (7.9% of the portfolio; added to the position), Terry Smith (4.6% of the portfolio; trimmed the position) and George Soros (3.5% of the portfolio; unchanged) held GOOGL as of June 30, 2026. 13F filings cover only US-listed equities and arrive up to 45 days after the quarter ends, so they lag the real portfolios. See Superinvestors.
When does Alphabet report earnings next?
Alphabet's next earnings report is expected on October 28, 2026 after the market closes, with analysts expecting earnings of $3.11 per share. Dates come from the Finnhub earnings calendar and can move. In its last 4 quarters it beat the estimate 2 times, by an average of +6.5%.
Where do these numbers come from?
- Financial statements: Alphabet's 10-K annual report for the year ended Dec 31, 2025, filed Feb 5, 2026 (filing index). Every earlier year in the 10-year financials comes from the company's older 10-K filings, all listed on SEC EDGAR.
- Prices and market data: quotes, P/E and analyst ratings from Finnhub; daily price history and the 52-week range from Twelve Data, both refreshed weekly. Short interest comes from FINRA, reported twice a month.
- How to check a figure: click any number in the card above to see its exact source, and read the Editorial Standards for every rule behind the checks.
About this Alphabet Inc analysis
This page shows every value-investing check the site runs on Alphabet Inc (GOOGL) in one place: the 8 mechanical filters, the Buffett and Lynch checklists, a margin of safety from a disclosed DCF, earnings quality, shareholder yield and how it ranks against its sector peers. The numbers come from SEC filings and public market data, refreshed weekly, and the same rules apply to every stock on the stock list. See Editorial Standards for the sources and the rules, or run your own filters in the stock screener.