Strong Growth in Google Services Lifted Alphabet (GOOG)

Core Insights - Wedgewood Partners anticipates stronger market volatility in the coming years and has moderated its enthusiasm for investments [1] - The Wedgewood Composite returned -1.8% in Q4 2025, underperforming compared to the S&P 500's 2.7% and other indices [1] - The firm's focus on high-quality stocks has historically been successful since 1992, but faced challenges in 2025 due to poor stock selection and underweight positions in AI stocks [1] Company Performance - Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) was highlighted as the leading performer in Wedgewood's strategy for Q4 2025 [2] - Alphabet's stock closed at $330.34 on January 16, 2026, with a one-month return of 7.04% and a 52-week gain of 67.22% [2] - Alphabet has a market capitalization of $3.988 trillion [2] Revenue Growth - Alphabet's Google subsidiary reported a 15% growth in search revenues compared to the previous year, driven by AI-related user queries and automated ad services [3] - The Google Cloud segment also saw accelerated revenue and backlog growth, processing 1.3 quadrillion AI tokens per month, more than double from previous quarters [3] - Alphabet's proprietary IT hardware and software development is expected to enhance its profitability during the AI era [3]