Is This the Most Overlooked Infrastructure Investment of the Decade? (Spoiler: It's Not a Data Center REIT)
Written by Emily J. Thompson, Senior Investment Analyst
Updated: Nov 17 2025
0mins
Should l Buy GOOG?
Source: NASDAQ.COM
Nvidia's Dominance in AI: Nvidia is a leading producer of chips essential for artificial intelligence, with its stock rising significantly over the past decade, although its high price-to-earnings ratio raises concerns about future performance.
Growth of Data Centers: The demand for data centers, which house the computers running AI, is increasing, benefiting related industries such as data center REITs and companies providing building components and power management products.
Electricity Demand Surge: As AI and data centers expand, electricity demand is projected to grow significantly, with estimates suggesting a 55% increase from 2020 to 2040, making investments in electric utilities attractive.
Investment Options: Investors can capitalize on the growing electricity demand through individual utility stocks or diversified ETFs like the Vanguard Utilities ETF and Utilities Select Sector SPDR ETF, both of which offer similar performance and dividend yields.
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Analyst Views on GOOG
Wall Street analysts forecast GOOG stock price to rise over the next 12 months. According to Wall Street analysts, the average 1-year price target for GOOG is 336.08 USD with a low forecast of 255.00 USD and a high forecast of 400.00 USD. However, analyst price targets are subjective and often lag stock prices, so investors should focus on the objective reasons behind analyst rating changes, which better reflect the company's fundamentals.
15 Analyst Rating
14 Buy
1 Hold
0 Sell
Strong Buy
Current: 331.330
Low
255.00
Averages
336.08
High
400.00
Current: 331.330
Low
255.00
Averages
336.08
High
400.00
About GOOG
Alphabet Inc. is a holding company. The Company's segments include Google Services, Google Cloud, and Other Bets. The Google Services segment includes products and services such as ads, Android, Chrome, devices, Google Maps, Google Play, Search, and YouTube. The Google Cloud segment includes infrastructure and platform services, collaboration tools, and other services for enterprise customers. Its Other Bets segment is engaged in the sale of healthcare-related services and Internet services. Its Google Cloud provides enterprise-ready cloud services, including Google Cloud Platform and Google Workspace. Google Cloud Platform provides access to solutions such as artificial intelligence (AI) offerings, including its AI infrastructure, Vertex AI platform, and Gemini for Google Cloud; cybersecurity, and data and analytics. Google Workspace includes cloud-based communication and collaboration tools for enterprises, such as Calendar, Gmail, Docs, Drive, and Meet.
About the author
Emily J. Thompson
Emily J. Thompson, a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) with 12 years in investment research, graduated with honors from the Wharton School. Specializing in industrial and technology stocks, she provides in-depth analysis for Intellectia’s earnings and market brief reports.
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- Winners and Losers: Microsoft (MSFT) is seen as a winner due to its infrastructure integrating GitHub Copilot and Azure AI, while Adobe (ADBE) and Figma (FIG) face threats from lightweight competitors, particularly as Figma's seat-based pricing model may erode.
- Challenges in Enterprise Software: Although companies can now create custom enterprise software, ensuring consumer data safety through backend systems remains complex and costly, with SaaS firms having invested heavily in this unseen aspect, leading many non-tech companies to avoid replacing existing software.
- Importance of Brand Trust: Brett Ashcroft Green emphasizes that consumer trust in brands like Adobe and DocuSign makes businesses reluctant to switch to custom software, as brand recognition plays a crucial role in client confidence; while SaaS stocks may see short-term sell-offs, AI is expected to help these established brands build and improve trusted software more efficiently.
See More
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- Capital Expenditure Plans: The company plans to nearly double its capital expenditures in the coming year, primarily investing in AI infrastructure; despite market concerns about tech companies' ROI on AI, Alphabet's spending is viewed as effective.
- Cloud Business Growth: Google's cloud computing segment generated $17.7 billion in revenue in Q4, a 48% year-over-year increase, with operating income more than doubling to $5.3 billion, indicating a rising contribution to overall revenue, now at 15%.
- Optimistic Market Outlook: According to Mordor Intelligence, the global AI data center industry is expected to grow at an annual rate of 25% through 2031, and with its new Tensor Processor Units, Alphabet is well-positioned to capture a significant share of this market growth.
See More
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- Key Stock Performance: Stocks like JPMorgan, Apple, and Boeing are now in buy zones, reflecting their strong fundamentals and market demand, which may further propel their stock prices and enhance investor confidence.
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- Improved Market Sentiment: The Dow's breakthrough not only reflects optimistic expectations for economic recovery but may also encourage other indices to follow suit, further enhancing overall market vitality and liquidity.
See More
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- Rapid Cloud Growth: The Google Cloud segment generated $17.7 billion in revenue during Q4, marking a 48% year-over-year increase, while operating income more than doubled to $5.3 billion, indicating that this division is becoming a key growth driver for Alphabet.
- Capital Expenditure Plans: The company plans to nearly double its capital expenditures in the coming year, primarily investing in AI infrastructure; despite concerns about other tech firms' insufficient returns on AI investments, Alphabet's spending is viewed as effective.
- Optimistic Market Outlook: According to Mordor Intelligence, the global AI data center industry is expected to grow at an annual rate of 25% through 2031, and with its new Tensor Processor Units, Alphabet is well-positioned to capture a significant share of this rapidly expanding market.
See More
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- Accelerated Revenue Growth: Google Cloud's revenue growth surged to 48% in Q4, reaching $17.7 billion, with operating income skyrocketing from $2.1 billion last year to $5.3 billion, reflecting strong performance and demand in the AI sector.
- Significant Capex Increase: Alphabet plans to raise its capital expenditure budget to between $175 billion and $185 billion for 2026, significantly up from $91 billion in 2025, indicating strong confidence in future technology investments, particularly in AI and cloud computing.
- Search and Ad Revenue Growth: Google Search revenue grew 17% in Q4 to $63.1 billion, demonstrating that AI has driven an increase in search queries without negatively impacting traditional search, further solidifying its market leadership.
- Waymo Expansion and Funding: Alphabet's Waymo robotaxi service opened its sixth market in Miami and successfully raised $16 billion for its subsidiary, achieving a valuation of $126 billion, showcasing the company's ongoing expansion and investment potential in the autonomous driving sector.
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