Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) is a Buy at Citizens on Waymo Operational Progress as RBC Capital Downplays Real Estate Prospects

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) is one of the best forever stocks to buy according to hedge funds. On December 17, analysts at Citizens reiterated that Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) is a Market Outperform with a $340 price target. The positive stance is in response to Waymo’s third-quarter operational update.

The autonomous driving subsidiary says its cumulative rider miles increased by 28 million in the third quarter, representing 24% quarter-over-quarter growth. Phoenix has emerged as the subsidiary’s biggest market, where the unit added 10 million rider-only miles. The milestone comes as the unit plans to raise more than $15 billion at a valuation of about $100 billion.

The valuation underscores Waymo’s emergence as a leader in driverless technology as the company continues to ramp up its fleet. Backed by Alphabet, Waymo remains in a solid position to take on Tesla and others in the autonomous ride-hailing business. It is currently the only company without a safety driver across multiple cities.

Meanwhile, RBC Capital does not expect Alphabet to enter the real estate portal market. According to the research firm, the company faces significant barriers to entry, key among them being the MLS participation requirement. For starters, IDX feeds are designed for agents, not horizontal marketing platforms, which makes MLS approval problematic. To participate Google will have to become a broker in hundreds of MLS organizations.

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) is a multinational tech conglomerate and holding company, best known as the parent of Google, managing core internet services (Search, Ads, YouTube, Android, Maps) under Google. It also boasts of other ventures like cloud computing (Google Cloud), hardware (Pixel, Nest), and “Other Bets” in areas like self-driving cars (Waymo) and life sciences (Calico).

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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.