Google Stock Could Be the Smartest AI Play of 2025. Should You Buy It Now?

Core Insights - The big tech earnings season has commenced, with major companies like Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, and Meta reporting their earnings this week [1] Alphabet's Earnings Performance - Alphabet achieved its first-ever quarter with over $100 billion in revenue, reporting $102.3 billion for Q3, which is nearly three times the revenue from the same quarter five years ago [2][4] - The company's revenue increased by 16% year-over-year, surpassing consensus estimates by $2.2 billion [4] - Alphabet's net income rose by 35.3% to $2.87 per share, reinforcing its status as one of the most profitable tech firms [4] AI Strategy and Revenue Breakdown - CEO Sundar Pichai highlighted that Alphabet's AI-first strategy is yielding significant results, with Search remaining the primary revenue source [5] - Revenues from Search and other advertising grew by 15% to $56.6 billion, driven by advancements in retail and financial services [5] - Google Services revenue increased by 14% to $87.1 billion, supported by double-digit growth in both Search and YouTube [5] - Google Cloud's revenue surged by 34% to $15.2 billion, fueled by strong enterprise demand for AI-optimized infrastructure and Gemini models [5] - Google Cloud's backlog increased by 46% sequentially and 82% year-over-year, totaling $155 billion [5] - YouTube's advertising revenue rose by 15% to $10.3 billion, benefiting from strong performance in direct response commercials and the popularity of YouTube Shorts [5]