Alphabet's Hidden Assets and Street-Level Strategy Drive Momentum

Alphabet's $150B SpaceX stake nears IPO, Waymo expands with Waze data, and AI investments fuel earnings growth, driving the stock's 98% annual gain.

Alphabet Inc. is demonstrating the power of its sprawling corporate empire, with strategic moves across autonomous driving and a massive, long-held investment creating a potent mix of catalysts for the stock. The company's shares, trading around 270 euros, have surged nearly 98% over the past twelve months, leading the pack of major tech stocks in 2026.

A significant, though often overlooked, part of Alphabet's value proposition lies in its 2015 investment in SpaceX. The search giant secured a roughly 7.5% stake for $900 million. With SpaceX now officially targeting a public listing in June 2026 at a valuation exceeding $2 trillion, that stake could be worth approximately $150 billion. This impending transition of an illiquid holding into a verifiable market value is prompting analysts to reassess Alphabet's balance sheet, seeing substantial upside potential.

Concurrently, Alphabet is leveraging its internal subsidiaries for strategic advantage. Its autonomous driving unit, Waymo, is now sharing data with the navigation app Waze. Information on potholes and road damage, collected by Waymo's fleet of sensor-equipped robotaxis, is fed directly into Waze's platform. The initiative, already testing in five metropolitan areas where it has identified around 500 road defects, serves a dual purpose. While providing a public service, it also builds crucial political goodwill with city authorities, easing negotiations for operating permits as Waymo aggressively expands.

That expansion is proceeding at scale. Waymo is now completing 500,000 rides weekly and plans to launch in 20 U.S. cities during 2026. The company also reports its vehicles are involved in 92% fewer severe accidents compared to human drivers. To fund this growth, Waymo recently closed a $16 billion funding round, primarily backed by Alphabet, valuing the subsidiary at $126 billion.

The core business is providing its own tailwinds. Analysts at Mizuho have raised their 2026 earnings per share estimate to $11.81, notably above the market consensus. They cite accelerated growth in Google Cloud and a deepened partnership with AI developer Anthropic as key drivers. Alphabet's use of its custom Tensor Processing Units (TPUs) for AI applications is providing a structural cost advantage that is increasingly flowing through to margins.

This positive fundamental outlook is reflected in recent trading. The stock gained 5.50% on a weekly basis, closing Friday at 270.45 euros. A Relative Strength Index (RSI) reading of 78.5 indicates strong near-term momentum, albeit in overbought territory.

Investors will soon get a comprehensive update on the financial health of these diverse ventures. Alphabet is scheduled to release its first-quarter 2026 results on Wednesday, April 29. The report will be scrutinized for signs that the company's massive planned capital expenditures of $175 to $185 billion for the full year—largely directed at AI infrastructure—are already translating into accelerated revenue growth in its Cloud and Services segments.