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Why Wells Fargo Raised Alphabet’s Price Target to $417
Wells Fargo raised its Alphabet target from $411 to $417, citing external TPU sales and Google Cloud growth. The reported forecast put 2027 revenue 14% above Wall Street estimates, with earnings per share in line; for 2028, revenue and EPS were forecast 20% and 5% above consensus, respectively.
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Key takeaways
- Wells Fargo raised its Alphabet target from $411 to $417, citing external TPU sales and Google Cloud growth.
- The reported forecast put 2027 revenue 14% above Wall Street estimates, with earnings per share in line; for 2028, revenue and EPS were forecast 20% and 5% above consensus, respectively.
- The available reporting does not verify an unchanged 27.5 times 2027 earnings multiple, so that valuation detail should be treated as unconfirmed.
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openai.comCreate a landscape editorial hero image for this Studio Global article: Why did Wells Fargo analyst Ken Gawrelski raise Alphabet’s price target from $411 to $417 while maintaining an Overweight rating on October. Article summary: Ken Gawrelski raised Alphabet’s target from $411 to $417 on October 6 while keeping an Overweight rating because he expected external sales of Google’s AI chips, or TPUs, and continued Google Cloud growth to lift results. Topic tags: general, general web, government. Style: premium digital editorial illustration, source-backed research mood, clean composition, high detail, modern web publication hero. Use reference image context only for broad subject, composition, and topical grounding; do not copy the exact image. Avoid: logos, brand marks, copyrighted characters, real person likenesses, fake screenshots, UI text, readable text, watermarks, charts with fake nu
Wells Fargo raised its Alphabet price target from $411 to $417 on October 6, 2026, while maintaining an Overweight rating. The reported rationale was growth potential from external sales of Google’s AI chips, or TPUs, and continued expansion in Google Cloud. The target implied about 20% upside from the share price used in the report—but that is a potential share-price gain, not a forecast for earnings growth. 1
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What Wells Fargo forecast
The reported estimates put external TPU sales at $9.2 billion in the third quarter of 2026 and $11.5 billion in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo projected Alphabet’s total 2027 revenue would be 14% above Wall Street estimates, while its 2027 earnings-per-share estimate remained in line with consensus. For 2028, the firm reportedly forecast revenue 20% above consensus and EPS 5% above it. These are analyst forecasts, not reported results. 3
The forecast also linked TPU sales to Cloud growth. Ahead of quarterly results, Wells Fargo expected Google Cloud revenue growth of 142% year over year, compared with 82% in the prior quarter. That Cloud figure should be read in context: Alphabet had begun recognizing TPU system sales in Cloud revenue, while company commentary said Cloud growth accelerated even excluding those sales. The sources provided do not quantify that underlying growth rate. 1
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How to read the 20% upside
A $417 target against the reported reference price of $346.47 works out to roughly 20.4% potential upside. The target itself rose by $6—from $411 to $417, or about 1.5%. Those figures describe different comparisons: the first is the target’s implied gain from the share price used in the report; the second is the change in Wells Fargo’s target. 5
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The available source material does not confirm that Wells Fargo kept a 27.5-times multiple on 2027 earnings. Without a source establishing that valuation assumption, it is not possible to say how much of the target increase came from a change in projected earnings versus a change in the multiple. The reported rationale supports the TPU-and-Cloud growth thesis, but not a specific valuation bridge. 1
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The operating backdrop—and the caveats
Alphabet reported second-quarter 2026 revenue of $119.8 billion, up 24% year over year. Google Cloud revenue rose 82% to $24.8 billion, providing a strong recent growth backdrop for the analyst’s forecast. 33 But rapid revenue growth alone does not establish how profitable external TPU sales will be; the cited forecast coverage does not provide a verified profit contribution for those sales.
The report also described Search revenue as solid but decelerating, and noted that Alphabet still had to address both the opportunity and competitive threat from consumer AI agents. 1 Separately, a report described Gemini 4 Argon as aimed at longer-running professional tasks, but that does not by itself establish Alphabet’s competitive position or the commercial success of its AI products.
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Infrastructure spending is another consideration. A report on Google Cloud’s TPU shipments said Alphabet’s 2026 capital-expenditure guidance was $195 billion to $205 billion. That level of investment underscores why revenue forecasts should not be read as a guarantee of near-term earnings or cash-flow gains. 6
Bottom line
The supported explanation for Wells Fargo’s modest target increase is a more optimistic outlook for external TPU sales and Google Cloud growth. The reported forecasts point to revenue outperformance versus consensus in 2027 and 2028, but do not establish the claimed 27.5-times valuation multiple or quantify the profitability of external TPU sales. The roughly 20% upside is a calculation from a cited share price to the $417 target—not an earnings-growth estimate. 3
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What is the short answer to "Why Wells Fargo Raised Alphabet’s Price Target to $417"?
Wells Fargo raised its Alphabet target from $411 to $417, citing external TPU sales and Google Cloud growth.
What are the key points to validate first?
Wells Fargo raised its Alphabet target from $411 to $417, citing external TPU sales and Google Cloud growth. The reported forecast put 2027 revenue 14% above Wall Street estimates, with earnings per share in line; for 2028, revenue and EPS were forecast 20% and 5% above consensus, respectively.
What should I do next in practice?
The available reporting does not verify an unchanged 27.5 times 2027 earnings multiple, so that valuation detail should be treated as unconfirmed.
Sources
markets.businessinsider.comAlphabet price target raised to $417 from $411 at Wells Fargo
ca.investing.comWells Fargo raises Alphabet stock price target on TPU ...
constellationr.comGoogle Cloud starts shipping TPU systems, becomes chipmaker