Mountain View, California-based Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) is a multinational technology conglomerate holding company offering various products and platforms. With a market cap of $2.1 trillion, GOOGL provides web-based search, advertisements, maps, software applications, mobile operating systems, consumer content, enterprise solutions, commerce, and hardware products.

Companies worth $200 billion or more are generally described as “mega-cap stocks,” and GOOGL definitely fits that description, with its market cap exceeding this threshold, reflecting its substantial size, influence, and dominance in the internet content & information industry. The internet media giant has been a leader in artificial intelligence (AI) for years, utilizing AI as a key component of Google's search algorithm.

Despite its notable strength, Alphabet slipped 16.8% from its 52-week high of $207.05, achieved on Feb. 4. Shares of Alphabet gained 1.2% over the past three months, outpacing the Communication Services Select Sector SPDR ETF’s (XLC) marginal losses during the same time frame.

In the longer term, shares of Alphabet dipped 9% on a YTD basis and declined 2.3% over the past 52 weeks, underperforming XLC’s YTD gains of 5.2% and a solid 22.5% return over the last year.

To confirm the bullish trend, Alphabet is trading above its 50-day moving average since mid-May. The stock has been trading above its 200-day moving average recently.  

GOOGL’s underperformance can be attributed to the looming threat of antitrust actions by the U.S. government, which may force the company to sell assets like the Chrome browser. While this uncertainty has impacted the stock's valuation, Alphabet's economic moat remains strong. The rise of generative AI applications poses a threat, but Google's popularity and integration of AI into its search business could help retain users.

On Apr. 24, GOOGL shares closed up more than 2% after reporting its Q1 results. Its revenue increased 12% year over year to $90.2 billion. The company’s EPS came in at $2.81, up 48.7% from the year-ago quarter. 

In the competitive arena of internet content & information, Meta Platforms, Inc. (META) has taken the lead over Alphabet, showing resilience with a 9.9% uptick on a YTD basis and a solid 34.1% gain over the past 52 weeks.

Wall Street analysts are bullish on GOOGL’s prospects. The stock has a consensus “Strong Buy” rating from the 52 analysts covering it, and the mean price target of $200.65 suggests a potential upside of 16.4% from current price levels.