Alphabet (GOOG) Jumps 4% as Dividend Looms

We recently published 10 Stocks Outrunning the Market; 3 on a High. Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) was one of the best performers on Friday.

Alphabet grew its share prices by 4.01 percent on Friday to close at $314.98 apiece as investors positioned portfolios ahead of its next quarterly dividend payment.

According to the company, it would pay $0.21 in dividends to all shareholders of Class A, B, and C shares on record as of March 9, 2026, payable on March 16.

The dividends followed the release of a strong earnings performance last year, with net income expanding by 32 percent to $132 billion versus $100 billion in 2024. Revenues surged by 15 percent to $402.8 billion from $350 billion year-on-year.

In the fourth quarter alone, net income increased by 29.8 percent to $34.4 billion from $26.5 billion, while revenues jumped by 18 percent to $113.8 billion from $96.5 billion.

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) CEO Sundar Pichai said that the quarter was a tremendous period for the company, with annual revenues breaking past the $400 billion level for the first time.

“The launch of Gemini 3 was a major milestone, and we have great momentum,” he said, adding that the technology giant continues to drive strong growth across the business.

“YouTube’s annual revenues surpassed $60 billion across ads and subscriptions; we now have over 325 million paid subscriptions across consumer services, led by strong adoption for Google One and YouTube Premium. And Google Cloud ended 2025 at an annual run rate of over $70 billion, representing a wide breadth of customers, driven by demand for AI products. We’re seeing our AI investments and infrastructure drive revenue and growth across the board,” he noted.

In other news, Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Chief Finance Officer Anat Ashkenazi is set to participate in the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Telecom Conference on March 3, where investors will closely watch out for cues to spark trading appetite.

While we acknowledge the potential of GOOG as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and have limited downside risk. If you are looking for an extremely cheap AI stock that is also a major beneficiary of Trump tariffs and onshoring, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock.

READ NEXT: 30 Stocks That Should Double in 3 Years and 11 Hidden AI Stocks to Buy Right Now.

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