Is Google the most disrespected stock in the market? Expert opinion

Investment strategist Shay Boloor has asserted that Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL) may be one of the most disrespected stocks in today’s market, arguing that Wall Street is misjudging the firm’s position in the artificial intelligence (AI) era.

Boloor’s call comes as Google faces pressure from a broader market downturn, with technoogy stocks hit hard by ongoing trade tensions. GOOGL closed the last session down 1.3% at $153.36 and is down about 20% year-to-date.

In his analysis of the company, the strategist acknowledged that much of the market is focused on how generative AI tools like OpenAI and Anthropic could weaken Google Search. 

But Boloor believes the real story is that Google is quietly building the foundation for the next major tech cycle in areas far more critical than chatbots, he noted in an X post on April 20.

Google’s role in the AI space 

According to the expert, rather than competing for attention in the large language model race, Google is embedding itself deeper into the tech stack, focusing on infrastructure, agents, and cybersecurity. It’s laying the digital rails, securing endpoints, and integrating intelligent agents across platforms like Android, Gmail, Docs, and Chrome.

“Everyone’s pricing in weakness at the top of the funnel. No one’s pricing in strength at the bottom of the stack. Google doesn’t need to win the flashy LLM race to dominate the AI era. It already owns the rails,” Boloor said. 

To this end, Boloor noted that while the market may be pricing in a slowdown in Search, it’s overlooking the company’s growing presence in AI’s infrastructure and interface layers.

For beginners, Search remains Google’s largest business, generating 56% of its $96.5 billion in Q4 2024 revenue. However, its future growth is uncertain as AI tools like ChatGPT challenge traditional Search. In response, the technology firm has begun integrating AI-generated answers directly into search results.

Despite this, Alphabet trades at just 14x EV/EBIT, the same multiple it had nearly a decade ago. For Boloor, it’s the same company but with a far bigger opportunity ahead.

Wall Street is bearish on Google 

In contrast to Boloor’s outlook for Alphabet, the American tech giant has faced skepticism from Wall Street over declining search interest and a host of antitrust cases. Notably, on January 2, JMP Securities downgraded the stock to ‘Market Perform’ from ‘Market Outperform’.

In a note, JMP Securities analyst Andrew Boone said that the risk from antitrust penalties “could significantly impact Google’s U.S. distribution of search and search revenue.”

Last year, Google lost a major U.S. antitrust case over its dominance in Search, with a final ruling expected later this year. Boone noted that the outcome could be a primary focus for investors this year ahead, potentially limiting multiple expansions.

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