Alphabet's Slowdown in Search Ad Growth to Outweigh Other Factors, Wedbush Says

11:27 AM EDT, 10/29/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Alphabet's (GOOG, GOOGL) sequential slowdown in Search advertising growth will outweigh all other factors despite a "mixed" Q3, Wedbush analysts said in a Thursday note. Analysts said Alphabet's Q3 negatives included worse-than-expected free cash flow, as well as weakness in its cloud margin outlook and YouTube growth. Wedbush said, however, the company is facing strong cloud growth, and Search will monetize AI Mode/Overview at a greater rate. Alphabet shares are unlikely to work until the search narrative changes, analysts said, noting that it will likely require new ad products and evidence of monetization in the artificial intelligence era. Wedbush maintained an outperform rating on the stock, but lowered its price target to $387 from $445. Shares of the company were down 11.7% in Thursday trading. Price: 283.56, Change: -38.33, Percent Change: -11.91