Alphabet (GOOGL 1.66%) (GOOG 1.68%) did a great job taking care of its investors in 2025. Shares were 65% higher during the 12-month stretch, and the momentum has continued into the new year. This top artificial intelligence (AI) stock is up 8% so far in 2026 (as of Jan. 13).
However, with earnings season getting underway and Alphabet set to provide its latest financial figures on Feb. 4, should investors rush to buy shares before that date?
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Alphabet had a great 2025
After ChatGPT was released in late 2022, people thought that Alphabet was going to be a loser in the AI race -- but the company proved the naysayers wrong. That clearly was a flawed view. Alphabet's flagship platform, Google Search, still maintains more than 90% market share, essentially keeping its monopoly position. This has happened despite many industry observers worrying that consumer behavior would shift against it.
The company continued to report stellar financial results. Revenue increased 14% year over year in the first nine months of 2025. Net income increased by 33% over the same period, and Google Cloud Platform was the standout performer. In Q3, this segment posted an impressive operating margin of 24%.
"Over 70% of existing Google Cloud customers use our AI products," CEO Sundar Pichai said on the Q3 2025 earnings call.
Alphabet received a surprise catalyst in November when investment managers released their 13F filings. Berkshire Hathaway revealed that it purchased 17.8 million shares of the tech giant during the third quarter of 2025.
This was one of the last trades legendary investor Warren Buffett made as the longtime CEO of the conglomerate. This move is a clear vote of confidence and stamp of approval for Alphabet, and investors should undoubtedly view it as a high-quality company if they didn't before.
This business is ready to continue dominating the tech landscape
Alphabet's Gemini App had 650 million monthly active users in Q3, showcasing its broad adoption. In perhaps what is an unsurprising move, the business plans to display ads on this AI assistant to monetize its free user base. Given that the vast majority of AI users don't pay subscription fees for advanced features, this is the right strategic move from Alphabet to find ways to generate more revenue in the AI age.
It was also just announced that Apple will pay Alphabet $1 billion per year to use Gemini to power an updated version of Siri. This is a huge win for Alphabet, signalling that it has the best AI models out there that are good enough to support the voice assistant on the massive installed base of Apple products.
The company also owns YouTube, which continues to dominate the market for video entertainment. Nielsen data shows that it commanded a 12.9% share of total TV viewing in the U.S. in November, well ahead of streaming powerhouse Netflix.
Then there's Waymo, which remains ahead of the competition in the autonomous driving race. It completed 450,000 rides per week in December and plans to enter many new markets this year.
The success of these different segments points to Alphabet's unrivaled position. It's ready to have another dominant year in 2026.
NASDAQ: GOOGL
Key Data Points
Think about the next five years
As tempting as it may be and even though there could be a sense of urgency as the clock ticks to the next earnings date on Feb. 4, investors shouldn't put money to work with such a short time horizon in mind. Whether you buy a stock before or after Alphabet's upcoming financial update doesn't matter. This is true for long-term investors who are looking to park their money for five years or more.
It's important to pay attention to overall revenue and margin trends in the last quarter. What's more, any commentary the leadership team provides around AI initiatives, progress at Waymo, and capital expenditures will be worth keeping tabs on.
It's anyone's guess if Alphabet will exceed Wall Street analyst expectations when it reports results early next month. That shouldn't be a concern for investors.
This is arguably one of the best companies on Earth that finished off a banner year in 2025 and is well-positioned to keep the success going. Because of that, it looks like a smart investment opportunity to add Alphabet stock to your portfolio.
