After a difficult five months for Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL) stock, Citizens JMP analyst Andrew Boone pulled back on his previous Street-high Google equity price forecast of $515.
Specifically, on Thursday, October 22, the institutional expert made a 12.62% cut to his target, decreasing it to $450, meaning that, instead of estimating a 53.84% rally from the latest close at $334.76, he now anticipates a 34.42% rise.
Boone highlighted rising search competition from artificial intelligence (AI) agents – and, notably, Google has been facing criticism of a worsening service for years, with anecdotal evidence hinting that AI is already seizing some of the market share – and ‘execution risk’ as key factors behind the downgrade.
Still, the Citizens’ analyst underlined that Alphabet remains a leader in search, AI itself, and online video through its ownership of YouTube, and benefits from a significant stake in the autonomous car company Waymo, meaning it still merits a premium to the market multiple and is still rated ‘Market Outperform’ – considered a ‘Buy’.
Wall Street sets Google stock price target for the next 12 months
Meanwhile, Google commands the optimism of the wider Wall Street as well, with the data Finbold retrieved from TipRanks on October 22 showing GOOGL shares are, overall, considered a ‘Strong Buy’ by institutional experts.
Examining the ratings issued in the last three months also reveals that twenty-six analysts provided a ‘Buy’, four a ‘Hold’, and zero a ‘Sell’ recommendation for Alphabet’s equity.
The average price target for the next 12 months is likewise bullish, as Google stock is expected to rally 27.69% to $427.46 within the timeframe.
Google stock price performance in 2026
Elsewhere, Wall Street’s optimism has not been matched by investors in 2026. After soaring nearly 28% between the start of the year and mid-May, GOOGL found itself on a downtrend that took it, in total, 16.85% below the highs.
Furthermore, while Google shares’ performance stabilized somewhat between early August and early October, most recent trading brought a 5.38% drop that has extended by another 1.99% in the October 22 pre-market, taking the equity from $334.76 at the latest close to $328.09 at press time.
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