Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) has received a major price boost from another leading analysts after Sanford C. Bernstein, CLSA and Credit Agricole raised its price target to $1000. Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) has been on a slow but stable rally since announcing its December quarter results and now seems to be headed for the unexpected $1000. The company is trading at the $800 mark, and looks set to soldier on to a new territory. This would raise the company’s market cap to about $330 billion, or within 25 percent of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s current value.
In a report published Thursday, Sanford C. Bernstein Research analyst Carlos Kirjner, increased Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s price target from $820 to $1000 citing mass adoption of smartphones, tablets and the mobile Web as a large value creation opportunity for Google. The analysts pointed to the fact that if the PC search business is declining, then opportunity in the mobile search and YouTube must be growing fast. The analysts also revealed the firm’s estimates on Bullish, neutral and bearish scenarios, which they set at +45% for Bullish, +26% for Neutral and -9% for Bearish scenario.
Kirjner wrote, “we disagree with the most popular Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) bear case, which posits that mobile is bad for revenue growth and profitability. We also think YouTube is still an underappreciated asset. In our opinion, the emergence of the mobile Web, connecting billions of consumers everywhere, all the time to the Web will be a strong net positive for Google. We believe mobility, together with continued innovation in search such as new formats and better targeting, will support growth of search revenues in the double digits for several years to come. We also believe YouTube is already a multi-billion dollar business, growing fast and with healthy operating margins, whose growth potential is not fully reflected in consensus.”
In another report, James Lee, analyst at CLSA, raised the price target for Google to $1000 citing the new advertising system as a major win for the search giant. The new system, which is called “Advanced Campaigns,” is expected to change how customers buy keyword advertising from Google, allowing them to target search by device, location and even time of day.
In the report, Lee wrote, “”The new campaign simplifies how you buy ads from Google, compared to the current system which has hundreds, if not thousands, of variables you need to buy. The new system will be simplified for small and medium-sized businesses. We feel this will add more advertisers bidding on keywords, and the cost-per-click goes up as a result.”
Another firm, Credit Agricole raised their price target from $900 to $1000, whereas Deutsche Bank AG (NYSE:DB) (ETR:DBK) analysts increased their target for Google from $850 to $935. At the time of this writing, Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) stock was trading at $792.62 per share, up $0.16, or 0.02 percent increase from the previous close.
