Alphabet price target raised to $220 from $200 at JMP Securities

JMP Securities raised the firm’s price target on Alphabet (GOOGL) to $220 from $200 and keeps an Outperform rating on the shares. Alphabet reported solid Q3 earnings, with revenue 2% above consensus and Cloud revenue accelerating 6 points to 35% year over year, the analyst tells investors in a research note. While JMP has concerns around the diffusion of search as Google’s distribution advantage is eroded by the growing number of search access points, including social, chat bots, and retail media, the firm believes overall query growth has also accelerated, driven by search technology’s improved ability to understand complex questions, and continues to view Google as a net beneficiary of AI.