'Structural Winner of the AI Wars': Scotiabank Crowns Alphabet Stock (GOOGL)

Alphabet's (GOOGL) shares edged higher on Friday as Scotiabank proclaimed the U.S. tech giant the "structural winner of the artificial intelligence wars" among hyperscalers despite its relatively slower entry.Claim 70% Off TipRanks PremiumUnlock hedge fund-level data and powerful investing tools for smarter, sharper decisions Stay ahead of the market with the latest news and analysis and maximize your portfolio's potential Scotiabank analyst Nat Schindler reaffirmed his Buy rating on Alphabet's shares and raised his price target by about 12% from $336 per share to $375, implying about 15% upside from the stock's closing price on Thursday. With gains of almost 65%, Alphabet's shares led the "Magnificent Seven" group in 2025 in terms of stock performance. In giving his rating, Schindler emphasized the fact that GOOGL stock has climbed about 64% over the past 12 months, adding that "every decision they make [at Google] seems to be the correct one." Scotiabank Bullish on Google Cloud In addition, the analyst pointed to Alphabet's Wall Street-beating third-quarter earnings results that were "very strong across the board," including Search, YouTube and Cloud. "We're particularly bullish on the potential upside within Cloud, especially on operating margin," Schindler noted, adding that he expects the tech giant's stock to outperform due to its positioning to benefit from the monetization of AI. The analyst backed his bullish view despite acknowledging that there may be "some noise" from non‑cash charges related to Google's capital assets, data centers, and servers, etc. — that is, depreciation and amortization. Mizuho Sees Alphabet's Waymo Scaling in 2026 Meanwhile, Mizuho analyst Lloyd Walmsley in his latest assessment of the internet sector, noted that he expects the "AI megatrend" seen in 2025 to continue this year. Walmsley anticipates focus to shift to product changes and ad monetization by OpenAI and Alphabet's scaling of Waymo, the self-driving unit that reported industry-leading 14 million rides between January and early December 2025. The five-star analyst also reaffirmed his Buy rating on Google and raised his GOOGL price target by 12% to $365, implying about 11% upside. Is GOOGL Stock a Good Buy? Across Wall Street, Alphabet's shares continue to boast a Strong Buy consensus rating from analysts based on 27 Buys and six Holds issued over the past three months by 33 analysts. However, the average GOOGL price target of $337.87 implies less than 3% upside from current trading levels.