Some follow famous investors to get ideas about which stocks to buy. However, another strategy is to check out which stocks successful companies are investing in. You might be surprised how well some of their investments perform.
Take Alphabet (GOOG +2.75%) (GOOGL +2.76%), for example. Google's parent has $754 million invested in three hot growth stocks that have skyrocketed 120% or more so far this year.
Image source: Getty Images.
Alphabet's big winners
Alphabet's biggest equity holding is in AST Spacemobile (ASTS +4.22%). As of June 30, 2025, the company's stake in AST Spacemobile was worth roughly $418 million and made up 19.6% of Alphabet's investment portfolio.
AST Spacemobile is developing the first space-based cellular broadband network that can be directly accessed by smartphones. It plans to deploy nationwide intermittent service in the U.S. by year-end and expand into Canada, Japan, and the U.K. in early 2026. Investors are already excited about AST Spacemobile's prospects: The space stock has nearly quadrupled year to date.
NASDAQ: ASTS
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Alphabet has a $195 million stake in Planet Labs (PL 0.84%). Founded by three NASA scientists, Planet Labs provides satellite imagery and geospatial solutions used by agriculture, finance, and forestry companies as well as government agencies. Its share price has jumped more than 120% so far in 2025.
NYSE: PL
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Another $141 million of Alphabet's money is invested in clinical-stage biotech company Metsera (MTSR 0.02%). The small drugmaker has three pipeline programs targeting obesity in phase 1 and phase 2 clinical testing. Metsera's stock has nearly tripled year to date.
NASDAQ: MTSR
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What Wall Street thinks
Wall Street isn't gung-ho about one of Alphabet's hot growth stocks. Only four of the 10 analysts surveyed by S&P Global (SPGI +1.33%) in October rated AST Spacemobile as a "buy." Two of the analysts recommended selling the stock. Furthermore, the average 12-month price target is roughly 19% below the current share price.
Analysts are somewhat more bullish about Metsera. Two of the four analysts surveyed by S&P Global this month rated the stock as a "buy." The other two analysts recommended holding Metsera. However, the consensus price target reflects an upside potential over the next 12 months of less than 6%.
That leaves Planet Labs as the hot stock owned by Alphabet that Wall Street likes the most. Five of the nine analysts surveyed by S&P Global rated the stock as a "buy." Another analyst gave Planet Labs a "strong buy" rating. The three outliers recommended holding the stock. In addition, the average 12-month price target for Planet Labs is more than 12% above the current share price.
Granted, a 12% or so gain over the next year pales in comparison with the huge return Planet Lab has delivered so far in 2025. However, the consensus price target for the stock nonetheless shows that Wall Street believes it has more room to run.
Should you buy Planet Labs stock, too?
At first glance, Planet Labs might not seem like a great stock to buy despite Wall Street's approval. The company remains unprofitable, posting a net loss of $22.6 million in the second quarter of 2025. Its valuation looks steep, too, with a price-to-sales ratio of 16.9. Planet's year-over-year revenue growth of 20% in Q2 doesn't appear to justify this premium.
There's more to the story with this growth stock, though. Planet Labs' backlog in Q2 soared 245% year over year to $736.1 million, roughly 2.6 times greater than the midpoint of the company's revenue guidance for 2025.
Planet recently closed major deals with the German government, NATO, and the U.S. Navy. Management says it has more than 20 new opportunities with an average estimated total contract value per customer of $170 million.
Risk-averse investors will probably want to look elsewhere. However, aggressive long-term investors could agree with Alphabet that Planet Labs is a worthy pick.
