Warren Buffett confirmed in a CNBC interview that he personally initiated Berkshire Hathaway’s investment in Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL), a position now valued at approximately $31 billion. This announcement ended speculation that the trade originated from incoming CEO Greg Abel, though Buffett emphasized that all decisions are now made jointly.
Berkshire first disclosed the Alphabet stake in Q3 2025, and it has grown steadily, including a $10 billion private placement earlier this year tied to Alphabet’s AI infrastructure expansion. The stock surged 1.8% on the news, reaching a session high of $366.08, after a 52-week low of $180.48 just a year ago.
Several analysts raised their price targets: KeyBanc lifted its target to $445 from $425, while Zacks upgraded the stock to “strong-buy.” The average analyst target now stands at $413.73. Alphabet’s recent earnings showed EPS of $5.11, crushing the $2.64 consensus, and revenue of $109.9 billion. Its cloud backlog nearly doubled sequentially to $462 billion in Q1 2026. The broader market was also positive, but GOOGL outperformed the S&P 500, Dow, and Nasdaq, reflecting the company-specific catalyst.
