Zacks Investment Ideas feature highlights: Alphabet and Apple

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – January 13, 2026 – Today, Zacks Investment Ideas feature highlights Alphabet GOOGL and Apple AAPL.

Apple & Google: A New Superteam?

If there's one thing that remains certain for 2026, it's that the AI frenzy will continue to dominate market headlines and overall commentary. It's not unsurprising, given some of the lofty forecasts we've received, though the fresh year will likely weed out a few of the 'pretenders' from the real winners.

And the headlines just keep flowing in, with Alphabet announcing a multi-year collaboration with fellow technology titanApple. More specifically, Apple and Google have entered into a multi-year collaboration under which the next generation of Apple Foundation Models will be based on Google's Gemini models and cloud technology.

Apple & Gemini

In a joint statement, the companies said, 'After careful evaluation, Apple determined that Google's Al technology provides the most capable foundation for Apple Foundation Models and is excited about the innovative new experiences it will unlock for Apple users. Apple Intelligence will continue to run on Apple devices and Private Cloud Compute, while maintaining Apple's industry-leading privacy standards.'

It's an exciting development in the ever-expanding AI space, particularly following growing sentiment that Apple is being 'left behind' in the race. Notably, AAPL has not had its big AI moment, but today's announcement helps alleviate some of the concerns.

Keep in mind that the reaction to Apple Intelligence so far has been mixed, with several highly anticipated features, like an improved Siri, delayed during the initial rollout. After a few years of remaining quiet about AI in general, the less-than-ideal rollout of the announced features really amplified the concerns.

There's been a massive performance disparity between the two over the past year, as shown below. The weaker gains in AAPL could partly reflect less excitement about its AI trajectory relative to GOOGL, though the recently announced deal should help turn sentiment.

Both stocks continue to sport rosy outlooks concerning their current fiscal years, with analysts bullishly revising their expectations higher. GOOGL's $10.58 Zacks Consensus EPS estimate is up 18% over the last year.

EPS expectations for Apple bottomed out in July of last year, on a notably bullish trajectory since.

Putting Everything Together

Overall, it's a clear win-win situation for both Apple and Alphabet, with Apple securing its AI backbone and Google further cementing Gemini as a core component of AI infrastructure for the world's largest consumer ecosystem.

Why Haven't You Looked at Zacks' Top Stocks?

Since 2000, our top stock-picking strategies have blown away the S&P's +7.7% average gain per year. Amazingly, they soared with average gains of +48.4%, +50.2% and +56.7% per year.

Today you can access their live picks without cost or obligation.

See Stocks Free >>

Media Contact

Zacks Investment Research

800-767-3771 ext. 9339

[email protected]

https://www.zacks.com

Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performancefor information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

Zacks Investment Research