Cathie Wood's ARK funds bought 50,000 shares of Alphabet stock ahead of the report. What to expect from it?

ARK Investment, an investment firm run by Cathie Wood, bought more than 50,000 shares of Alphabet ahead of the company's earnings release, which is expected on Feb. 4. The trades were made on Feb. 2 and Feb. 3, Seeking Alpha noted. Alphabet has held strong for so long that there is now a risk of disappointment and profit taking, analysts warned.

ARK Autonomous Technology & Robotics ETF (ARKQ) bought 11,168 shares of Alphabet on Feb. 3, while ARK Space & Defense Innovation ETF (ARKX) added another 1,422 securities. The purchases followed larger purchases the day before, on Feb. 2, when the two funds combined bought 37,745 shares of Alphabet, Seeking Alpha reported.

Alphabet securities are currently ARKQ's 10th largest asset with 195,758 shares valued at approximately $66.7 million and ARKX's 14th largest portfolio with 65,710 shares valued at approximately $22.4 million.

Investors are awaiting the release of Alphabet's fourth-quarter report, which will include a 2026 outlook and capital expenditure plans, Seeking Alpha notes.

Analysts on average forecast Alphabet's earnings at $2.63 per share, on revenue growth of 15% to $111.3 billion, Barron's wrote.

Google Cloud revenue is expected to reach $16.2 billion, representing 35% year-over-year growth, with operating margins rising to 22.7%. This is one of the key segments that investors are now closely watching against the backdrop of the overall AI boom and rising capital expenditures at major technology companies, Barron's notes.

"Alphabet has been so consistently strong that there is now a risk of disappointment and profit taking, even in the face of strong results. It may be that the performance desired by investors for the stock to continue to grow is unattainable," warned Ingalls & Snyder senior portfolio strategist Tim Griskey in a Bloomberg story.

A year ago, Alphabet's position looked much less stable, with Google caught off guard by the success of ChatGPT and lagging behind OpenAI and Anthropic AI models. However, the introduction of AI Overviews (AI search functions), the launch of Gemini 3 AI models, the development of its own TPU AI chips and a softer-than-expected outcome of an antitrust case in the US had noticeably strengthened the company's position by the time the report was published, Barron's points out.

"Compared to the past, Alphabet now has a broader set of reasons to grow, and the cloud in particular could show terrific growth in the next two or three years, which I think will translate into strong free cash flow generation," said Neuberger Berman analyst Daniel Flax (quoted by Bloomberg).

Alphabet shares were down about 1.6% in trading on February 4. Meanwhile, they are up 7% since the start of 2026 and 75% over the past 12 months.

Wall Street is generally confident in the prospects of Alphabet. According to MarketWatch, 67 analysts recommend the company's shares to buy (Buy and Overweight ratings), 11 suggest holding (Hold). There is no advice to sell.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor