5 Must-Buy Stocks with the Strongest 1Q2026 Earnings Beats

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1. Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

On April 30, 2026, Roth Capital raised its price target on Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) to $435 from $395 and maintained a Buy rating after the company reported a Q1 beat. The firm cited “strong” results with momentum across Search, Cloud, and Subscriptions, driven by AI adoption, and said estimates are likely to “grind higher.”

RBC Capital also lifted its price target on Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) to $425 from $400 while keeping an Outperform rating, calling the quarter “rock solid.” The firm pointed to 19% Search growth and 63% growth in Google Cloud, with backlog nearly doubling sequentially to $460B.

On April 29, 2026, Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) reported Q1 EPS of $5.11 versus $2.67 consensus and revenue of $109.9B compared to $107.03B expected. CEO Sundar Pichai said results reflect a “terrific start,” with AI driving usage and growth, including “19% revenue growth” in Search and “63%” growth in Cloud. Paid subscriptions reached 350 million, while Gemini Enterprise users grew 40% quarter over quarter.

On April 27,2026, Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) declared a quarterly dividend of 22c per share, up from 21c, payable June 15 to shareholders of record on June 8.

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) operates Google Services, Google Cloud, and Other Bets, offering products and platforms across global markets.

While we acknowledge the potential of GOOGL to grow, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and have limited downside risk. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than GOOGL and that has 100x upside potential, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.

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