Best for
All-rounder
How to buy Alphabet shares | $1744.745
Own Alphabet shares in just a few minutes. Share price changes are updated daily.
Fact checked
Alphabet Inc (GOOGL) is a leading internet content & information business based in the US. It opened the day at $1729.02 after a previous close of $1730.92. During the day the price has varied from a low of $1711.71 to a high of $1747.37. The latest price was $1744.745 (25 minute delay). Alphabet is listed on the NASDAQ and employs 132,121 staff. All prices are listed in US Dollars.
How to buy shares in Alphabet
- Choose a platform. If you're a beginner, our share-dealing table below can help you choose.
- Open your account. You'll need your ID, bank details and national insurance number.
- Confirm your payment details. You'll need to fund your account with a bank transfer, debit card or credit card.
- Search the platform for stock code: GOOGL in this case.
- Research Alphabet shares. The platform should provide the latest information available.
- Buy your Alphabet shares. It's that simple.
Best for
Low-cost trading
Best for
US shares
Best for
Beginners
What's in this guide?
- Can I buy shares in Alphabet?
- Has coronavirus impacted Alphabet shares?
- Alphabet shares summary
- Compare share dealing platforms
- Is Alphabet stock a buy or sell?
- Alphabet performance over time
- Can I short Alphabet shares?
- Is Alphabet suitable for ethical investing?
- Are Alphabet shares over-valued?
- Alphabet's financials
- How volatile are Alphabet shares?
- Does Alphabet pay a dividend?
- Have Alphabet shares ever split?
- Other common questions
How has Coronavirus impacted Alphabet's share price?
Since the stock market crash in March caused by coronavirus, Alphabet's share price has had significant positive movement.
Its last market close was $1529.95, which is 3.04% up on its pre-crash value of $1483.46 and 51.65% up on the lowest point reached during the March crash when the shares fell as low as $1008.87.
If you had bought $1,000 worth of Alphabet shares at the start of February 2020, those shares would have been worth $706.27 at the bottom of the March crash, and if you held on to them, then as of the last market close they'd be worth $1,025.07.
Alphabet share price
Use our graph to track the performance of GOOGL stocks over time.Alphabet shares at a glance
Information last updated 2021-01-15.
| Open | $1729.02 |
|---|---|
| High | $1747.37 |
| Low | $1711.71 |
| Close | $1744.745 |
| Previous close | $1730.92 |
| Change | $13.825 |
| Change % | 0.799% |
| Volume | 947,740 |
Information last updated 2021-01-13.
| 52-week range | $1008.87 - $1843.83 |
|---|---|
| 50-day moving average | $1764.0618 |
| 200-day moving average | $1607.8381 |
| Wall St. target price | $1936.65 |
| PE ratio | 33.8062 |
| Dividend yield | N/A (0%) |
| Earnings per share (TTM) | $51.752 |
Invest in Alphabet shares with 0% commission
Other fees may apply. Your capital is at risk.
- Unlimited trades, with no dealing charges or management fees
- If your trades get copied you can earn extra money
- Create an account today in a few minutes
Go to site
Capital at risk
Share dealing platform comparison
Table: sorted by promoted deals first
All investing should be regarded as longer term. The value of your investments can go up and down, and you may get back less than you invest. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. If you’re not sure which investments are right for you, please seek out a financial adviser. Capital at risk.
Is it a good time to buy Alphabet stock?
The technical analysis gauge below displays real-time ratings for the timeframes you select. This is not a recommendation, however. It represents a technical analysis based on the most popular technical indicators: Moving Averages, Oscillators and Pivots. Finder might not concur and takes no responsibility.
Alphabet price performance over time
Historical closes compared with the last close of $1744.745
| 1 week (2021-01-08) | -2.95% |
|---|---|
| 1 month (2020-12-16) | -0.71% |
| 3 months (2020-10-16) | 11.29% |
| 6 months (2020-07-16) | 15.17% |
| 1 year (2020-01-16) | 20.31% |
|---|---|
| 2 years (2019-01-16) | 60.14% |
| 3 years (2018-01-16) | 54.31% |
| 5 years (2016-01-15) | 145.57% |
Is Alphabet under- or over-valued?
Valuing Alphabet stock is incredibly difficult, and any metric has to be viewed as part of a bigger picture of Alphabet's overall performance. However, analysts commonly use some key metrics to help gauge the value of a stock.
Alphabet's P/E ratio
Alphabet's current share price divided by its per-share earnings (EPS) over a 12-month period gives a "trailing price/earnings ratio" of roughly 34x. In other words, Alphabet shares trade at around 34x recent earnings.
That's relatively high compared to, say, the trailing 12-month P/E ratio for the NASDAQ 100 at the end of 2019 (27.29). The high P/E ratio could mean that investors are optimistic about the outlook for the shares or simply that they're over-valued.
However, Alphabet's P/E ratio is best considered in relation to those of others within the internet content & information industry or those of similar companies.
- Facebook (FB.US): 28.65
- Apple (AAPL.US): 38.87
- Amazon-com (AMZN.US): 93.08
- Netflix (NFLX.US): 79.82
Alphabet's PEG ratio
Alphabet's "price/earnings-to-growth ratio" can be calculated by dividing its P/E ratio by its growth – to give 1.5421. A low ratio can be interpreted as meaning the shares offer better value, while a higher ratio can be interpreted as meaning the shares offer worse value.
The PEG ratio provides a broader view than just the P/E ratio, as it gives more insight into Alphabet's future profitability. By accounting for growth, it could also help you if you're comparing the share prices of multiple high-growth companies.
However, it's sensible to consider Alphabet's PEG ratio in relation to those of similar companies.
- Facebook (FB.US): 0.90
- Apple (AAPL.US): 3.28
- Amazon-com (AMZN.US): 1.22
- Netflix (NFLX.US): 2.17
Alphabet's EBITDA
Alphabet's EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) is a whopping $48.1 billion (£35.5 billion).
The EBITDA is a measure of a Alphabet's overall financial performance and is widely used to measure a its profitability.
To put Alphabet's EBITDA into context you can compare it against that of similar companies.
- Facebook (FB.US): USD$30.2 billion
- Apple (AAPL.US): USD$77.3 billion
- Amazon-com (AMZN.US): USD$43.7 billion
- Netflix (NFLX.US): USD$4.2 billion
Alphabet financials
| Revenue TTM | $171.7 billion |
|---|---|
| Operating margin TTM | 20.29% |
| Gross profit TTM | $90 billion |
| Return on assets TTM | 7.75% |
| Return on equity TTM | 17.51% |
| Profit margin | 20.8% |
| Book value | $314.169 |
| Market capitalisation | $1.2 trillion |
TTM: trailing 12 months
How to short and sell Alphabet shares
- Create a CFD or spread betting account.
- Search for the stock code. E.g. "GOOGL.US"
- Choose your position size.
- Select "sell" rather than "buy".
- Confirm your position and keep tabs on it. You may wish to set limits on your position.
There are currently 2.8 million Alphabet shares held short by investors – that's known as Alphabet's "short interest". This figure is 8% up from 2.6 million last month.
There are a few different ways that this level of interest in shorting Alphabet shares can be evaluated.
Alphabet's "short interest ratio" (SIR)
Alphabet's "short interest ratio" (SIR) is the quantity of Alphabet shares currently shorted divided by the average quantity of Alphabet shares traded daily (recently around 1.6 million). Alphabet's SIR currently stands at 1.8. In other words for every 100,000 Alphabet shares traded daily on the market, roughly 1800 shares are currently held short.
To gain some more context, you can compare Alphabet's short interest ratio against those of similar companies.
- Facebook (FB.US): 1.47
- Apple (AAPL.US): 1
- Amazon-com (AMZN.US): 0.93
- Netflix (NFLX.US): 2.19
However Alphabet's short interest can also be evaluated against the total number of tradable Alphabet shares (the shares that aren't held by "insiders" or major long-term shareholders – also known as the "float"). In this case Alphabet's short interest could be expressed as 0.0084% of the tradable shares (for every 100,000 tradable Alphabet shares, roughly 8 shares are currently held short).
Such a low SIR usually points to an optimistic outlook for the share price, with fewer people currently willing to bet against Alphabet.
Find out more about how you can short Alphabet stock.
Alphabet's environmental, social and governance track record
Environmental, social and governance (known as ESG) criteria are a set of three factors used to measure the sustainability and social impact of companies like Alphabet.
When it comes to ESG scores, lower is better, and lower scores are generally associated with lower risk for would-be investors.
Alphabet's total ESG risk score
Total ESG risk: 20.35
Socially conscious investors use ESG scores to screen how an investment aligns with their worldview, and Alphabet's overall score of 20.35 (as at 01/01/2019) is pretty good – landing it in it in the 29th percentile of companies rated in the same sector.
ESG scores are increasingly used to estimate the level of risk a company like Alphabet is exposed to within the areas of "environmental" (carbon footprint, resource use etc.), "social" (health and safety, human rights etc.), and "governance" (anti-corruption, tax transparency etc.).
To gain some more context, you can compare Alphabet's total ESG risk score against those of similar companies.
- Facebook (FB.US): 29.40
- Apple (AAPL.US): 26.15
- Amazon-com (AMZN.US): 33.42
- Netflix (NFLX.US): 21.55
Alphabet's environmental score
Environmental score: 3.52/100
Alphabet's social score
Social score: 6.37/100
Alphabet's governance score
Governance score: 7.99/100
Alphabet's controversy score
Controversy score: 4/5
ESG scores also evaluate any incidences of controversy that a company has been involved in. A high-profile company, Alphabet scored a 4 out of 5 for controversy – the second-lowest score possible, reflecting that Alphabet has a damaged public profile.
Wondering how that compares? Below are the controversy scores of similar companies.
Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) summary
Alphabet Inc was last rated for ESG on: 2019-01-01.
| Total ESG score | 20.35 |
|---|---|
| Total ESG percentile | 29.34 |
| Environmental score | 3.52 |
| Social score | 6.37 |
| Governance score | 7.99 |
| Level of controversy | 4 |
Alphabet share dividends
We're not expecting Alphabet to pay a dividend over the next 12 months. However, you can browse other dividend-paying shares in our guide.
You may also wish to consider:
- Apple (AAPL.US) (0.64% forward annual dividend yield)
Have Alphabet's shares ever split?
Alphabet's shares were split on a 1998:1000 basis on 3 April 2014. So if you had owned 1000 shares the day before before the split, the next day you'd have owned 1998 shares. This wouldn't directly have changed the overall worth of your Alphabet shares – just the quantity. However, indirectly, the new 49.9% lower share price could have impacted the market appetite for Alphabet shares which in turn could have impacted Alphabet's share price.
Alphabet share price volatility
Over the last 12 months, Alphabet's shares have ranged in value from as little as $1008.87 up to $1843.83. A popular way to gauge a stock's volatility is its "beta".
Beta is a measure of a share's volatility in relation to the market. The market (NASDAQ average) beta is 1, while Alphabet's is 0.9947. This would suggest that Alphabet's shares are less volatile than average (for this exchange).
To put Alphabet's beta into context you can compare it against those of similar companies.
- Facebook (FB.US): 1.1828
- Apple (AAPL.US): 1.2836
- Amazon-com (AMZN.US): 1.198
- Netflix (NFLX.US): 0.9244
Win £500 to get your trading started
Subscribe to trending stock alerts for a chance to win
Alphabet overview
Alphabet Inc. provides online advertising services in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia-Pacific, Canada, and Latin America. It offers performance and brand advertising services. The company operates through Google and Other Bets segments. The Google segment offers products, such as Ads, Android, Chrome, Google Cloud, Google Maps, Google Play, Hardware, Search, and YouTube, as well as technical infrastructure. It also offers digital content, cloud services, hardware devices, and other miscellaneous products and services. The Other Bets segment includes businesses, including Access, Calico, CapitalG, GV, Verily, Waymo, and X, as well as Internet and television services. The company has an agreement with Sabre Corporation to develop an artificial intelligence-driven technology platform for travel. Alphabet Inc. was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in Mountain View, California.
Frequently asked questions
More guides on Finder
-
How to buy FuelCell Energy shares | $3.745
Learn more about FuelCell Energy’s recent performance and where you can invest in FuelCell Energy shares. We also run through some helpful rules of thumb for any investor.
-
How to buy CloudCommerce shares | $0.1275
Learn more about CloudCommerce’s recent performance and where you can invest in CloudCommerce shares. We also run through some helpful rules of thumb for any investor
-
How to buy Zomedica Pharmaceuticals shares | $0.93
Ever wondered how to buy shares in Zomedica Pharmaceuticals? We explain how and compare a range of providers that can give you access to many brands, including Zomedica Pharmaceuticals.
-
How to buy YRC Worldwide shares | $4.66
Ever wondered how to buy shares in YRC Worldwide? We explain how and compare a range of providers that can give you access to many brands, including YRC Worldwide.
-
How to buy Xeros Technology Group shares | 220p
Ever wondered how to buy shares in Xeros Technology Group? We explain how and compare a range of providers that can give you access to many brands, including Xeros Technology Group.
-
How to buy Xpediator shares | 33.5p
Ever wondered how to buy shares in Xpediator? We explain how and compare a range of providers that can give you access to many brands, including Xpediator.
-
How to buy Van Elle Holdings shares | 42p
Ever wondered how to buy shares in Van Elle Holdings? We explain how and compare a range of providers that can give you access to many brands, including Van Elle Holdings.
-
How to buy ULS Technology shares | 80.7p
Ever wondered how to buy shares in ULS Technology? We explain how and compare a range of providers that can give you access to many brands, including ULS Technology.
-
How to buy Twilio shares | $326.47
Ever wondered how to buy shares in Twilio? We explain how and compare a range of providers that can give you access to many brands, including Twilio.
-
How to buy Tungsten shares | 30.15p
Ever wondered how to buy shares in Tungsten? We explain how and compare a range of providers that can give you access to many brands, including Tungsten.
Ask an Expert