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Multi-front legal battles shouldn’t crimp growth for Alphabet and
Facebook
in the next year, as the shares could rise another double-digits from where they currently trade, according to
Goldman Sachs.
Analyst Heath Terry gave both stocks a Buy rating late Tuesday as he resumed coverage of the companies. He set a price target for Google parent Alphabet (ticker: GOOGL) at $2,250, which is 30% higher than its current price. Goldman has a $330 price target on Facebook (FB), which is 22% above its current trading price.
Big tech companies have been market winners this year, pushing the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite 43% higher, nearly three times as much as the
S&P 500’s
gain. Low interest rates and stay-at-home working and studying helped boost shares of tech companies, even though they face tough scrutiny.
Google is fighting antitrust accusations by the Justice Department and a growing number of states, and Facebook is sparring with the Federal Trade Commission and 40 states on antitrust matters.
The legal battles are part of a bigger push back in Washington against big tech’s influence in everything from communications to American culture.
Alphabet rose 0.6% on Wednesday and is up 29% this year, compared with a 14.7% gain in the S&P 500. Facebook rose 1.1% on Wednesday and is up 32% this year.
Goldman’s Terry is resuming coverage of Alphabet and Facebook.
Write to Liz Moyer at Liz.Moyer@barrons.com