Alphabet Stock Climbs as Buffett Confirms Personal Backing of Berkshire's Stake

Shares of Google-parent Alphabet (GOOGL) gained more than 2% in morning trading after Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett confirmed he was the architect behind the conglomerate's significant and growing position in the tech giant.

Buffett's Vote of Confidence

In a live interview with CNBC, Buffett put to rest speculation that the investment was initiated by his successors, stating plainly, "I initiated it." He noted that all investment decisions are approved jointly with CEO Greg Abel. This public endorsement from the highly respected investor provided a significant boost to investor sentiment.

Berkshire Hathaway first revealed its stake in Alphabet in the third quarter of 2025. The position has since grown to an exposure of roughly $31 billion, which includes participation in a $10 billion private placement this year to fund Alphabet's artificial intelligence infrastructure, according to Investing.com.

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Analyst Optimism and Market Context

The positive news was compounded by a bullish analyst note ahead of Alphabet's second-quarter 2026 earnings report, scheduled for July 22. KeyBanc analyst Justin Patterson raised his price target on the stock to $445 from $425, citing a belief that Wall Street is underestimating the durability of the Google Search and Google Cloud businesses.

Alphabet's stock performance outpaced the broader market, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rising 0.7% in the same session. The move reflects growing optimism around mega-cap tech earnings, particularly concerning the monetization of AI. Investors are closely watching Alphabet's cloud backlog, which nearly doubled sequentially in the first quarter of 2026 to $462 billion, as a key indicator of its AI trajectory.