Yesterday, after the close of the main trading session, a report on activities for the 1st quarter of Alphabet Inc. (Google's parent company) was published. The report was strong, exceeding investors' expectations.

→ Quarterly EPS = USD 1.89 (expected = USD 1.51), which represents a 15% increase year-over-year;
→ gross revenue = USD 80.539 billion (expected = USD 78.73 billion).

It was the fifth straight quarter in which Alphabet beat analysts' expectations on both revenue and profit. But the main surprise was the company’s decision to start paying dividends and increase the amount allocated for share buybacks to USD 70 billion.

According to Benzinga, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai made a number of important announcements about the future:
→ The company's combined YouTube and Cloud business revenues will be USD 100 billion in 2024, indicating a growth rate of 25% in each of the next three quarters.
→ Pichai also expressed confidence in Alphabet's ability to manage investments in AI, announcing capital expenditures of USD 12 billion.

As a result, the share price of Alphabet Inc. Class A (GOOGL) surpassed USD 180 in post-market trading, setting a new all-time record. In premarket trading today, GOOGL is trading around USD 176.

According to technical analysis of GOOGL stock price:
→ The ascending channel, in which the price fluctuated during 2023-2024, is now expanding upward. Its upper limit of USD 200 per share could be considered a target for bulls, provided the current positive sentiment continues;
→ Surely, at the opening of today's main trading session, a bullish gap will form on the GOOGL stock price chart, which in the future may serve as an area of support, as it did in the past (as shown by the purple figures).

According to TipRanks, the average analyst price forecast for GOOGL is = USD 167 in 12 months, but given recent events, it would not be surprising to see forecasts revised upward.

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