New York, February 25, 2026, 10:55 EST — Regular session
- Alphabet’s Class C shares (GOOG) edged up 0.3% during late-morning trading.
- Wells Fargo bumped up Alphabet this week, pointing to what it sees as an AI capacity edge.
- Nvidia steps into the spotlight after the bell with its earnings on deck.
Alphabet Class C shares edged 0.3% higher to $311.77 on Wednesday, pausing their two-day decline. Investors weighed a new analyst upgrade, with AI sector nerves still swirling. 1
Big tech’s popularity is surging again this week. Traders are crowding into the sector as Nvidia’s earnings approach, and tariff news hasn’t faded. 2
AI, once a clear boost, is now proving a tougher challenge. “I see AI disruption continuing as a dominant market theme through this year because AI continues to evolve,” said Sam Stovall, CFRA’s chief investment strategist. 2
The strain is showing up in the numbers. S&P 500 tech has dropped 3.5% this year, with software stocks taking a sharper hit as investors bet on how quickly AI tools might shake up current business models. 3
Ken Polcari, a partner and chief market strategist at Slatestone Wealth, called the shift messy, but far from disastrous. “AI ‘will continue to disrupt the world but I don’t think it’s the end of the world,’” he said. 3
Wells Fargo bumped up its rating on Alphabet to “Overweight” this week, with analyst Ken Gawrelski flagging Google’s “leadership in 3 key traits of AI winner: customer data, distribution and compute capacity.” Gawrelski also increased his price target, moving it up to $387 from $354. 4
The bank raised its Google Cloud outlook, highlighting a possible Gemini subscription revenue stream, but cautioned about risks tied to the ongoing transition in AI search. 4
A lot of the discussion traces back to Alphabet’s spending ambitions. The company, earlier this month, projected 2026 capital expenditures between $175 billion and $185 billion as it ramps up AI compute capacity. 5
Nvidia’s results hit Wednesday, with analysts bracing for another leap in revenue and watching closely for any remarks that might back up the massive AI infrastructure spending across the industry. 6
This setup has a double edge. Should Nvidia’s results or outlook miss the mark, or if other firms signal AI investments aren’t paying off as fast, the group could face another round of selling — Alphabet included — despite those upgrades still coming through.
Traders are eyeing how Nvidia’s results shake out and whether that moves the needle on the wider tech rally. Sentiment could shift quickly, depending on how stocks respond. 7
