Data as of:
LIVE
GOOGL
Alphabet Inc. · Communication Services
$349.54
+1.40% this month
VERSUS
COMPARE
AMZN
Amazon.com, Inc. · Consumer Discretionary
$253.71
-4.56% this month
Comparison scoreboard
GOOGL LEADS 4/5AI Scorei
GOOGL ✓64.2
AMZN 62.4
1Y Returni
GOOGL ✓+38.69%
AMZN +9.72%
Fwd P/Ei
GOOGL ✓23.37
AMZN 24.68
Target Up.i
GOOGL +23.51%
AMZN ✓+27.80%
Op. Margini
GOOGL ✓34.03%
AMZN 13.69%
Metrics last refreshed: 9/20/2026
Quick take
GOOGL vs AMZN Stock Comparison 2026: Alphabet vs Amazon: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
Alphabet and Amazon are both digital platform giants competing primarily in cloud computing (Google Cloud vs AWS) while also operating dominant advertising businesses with very different targeting methods. Google dominates intent-based search advertising; Amazon dominates purchase-intent product advertising. Both are increasingly AI companies — Alphabet through Gemini and DeepMind, Amazon through Bedrock and Alexa. Both are compounders across multiple high-quality businesses.
GOOGL vs AMZN is search advertising and AI research dominance with Google Cloud (Alphabet) versus e-commerce marketplace loyalty with AWS cloud leadership and purchase-intent advertising (Amazon) — both are large-cap technology compounders with different primary moats and AI strategies.
Live analysis · updated 9/20/2026
GOOGL holds the edge across 4 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. GOOGL leads on both 1-year return (+38.69%) and forward P/E quality (23.37x vs 24.68x for AMZN), a relatively favorable combination of momentum and valuation. GOOGL leads on both revenue growth (24.20%) and operating margin (34.03%), suggesting a stronger fundamental setup on both dimensions. Analyst consensus implies meaningfully more upside for AMZN (+27.80%) than for GOOGL (+23.51%).
Want a full valuation workup? 46-section report — AI Score, Monte Carlo forecast, bull/bear case, DCF, and more.
Normalized 1Y performance
GOOGL
AMZN
Recent returns
GOOGL
AMZN
Analyst price targets & sentiment
Human Wall Street analysts' price targets, typically implying a ~12-month view — a separate signal from this site's own AI Prediction Signal further down the page, which is a 5-/30-day machine-learning forecast based on price history alone.
GOOGL · 52 analysts
STRONG BUYHOLDSTRONG SELL
Buy (1.6/5.0)
56 Buy / 5 Hold / 0 Sell
Price target range
analyst low$160.00
analyst mean$428.07
current price$349.54
+23.5% upside to analyst mean
AMZN · 65 analysts
STRONG BUYHOLDSTRONG SELL
Strong Buy (1.4/5.0)
58 Buy / 2 Hold / 0 Sell
Price target range
analyst low$195.00
analyst mean$328.17
current price$253.71
+27.8% upside to analyst mean
Who should consider this stock?
GOOGL may suit investors who:
- prefer Google Search's intent-based advertising as one of the highest-quality, highest-return advertising channels in existence — advertisers pay premium for users actively searching for their products
- value Alphabet's AI research advantage through DeepMind and Google Brain as foundational capabilities for maintaining search and cloud relevance in the AI era
- want YouTube exposure as the dominant online video platform with both advertising and subscription revenue growing alongside creator economy expansion
- are comfortable with AI chatbot disruption risk to search advertising, antitrust distribution restrictions, and Google Cloud's third-place position vs AWS and Azure
AMZN may suit investors who:
- prefer AWS's first-place cloud market position with deepest enterprise relationships and 200+ cloud services — the largest cloud infrastructure business in the world
- value Amazon's unique purchase-intent advertising reaching buyers at the point of product discovery — highest advertising ROI for e-commerce brands
- want multiple compounding growth vectors: AWS, advertising, Prime membership, and international e-commerce expansion compounding simultaneously
- are comfortable with thin e-commerce margins, Microsoft Azure AI competition, and Amazon's structural complexity across many different business lines
Performance & AI score
| Metric | GOOGL | AMZN |
|---|---|---|
| AI scorei | 64.2 | 62.4 |
| AI ranki | #91 | #122 |
| Latest closei | $349.54 | $253.71 |
| 1M returni | +1.40% | -4.56% |
| 6M returni | +13.81% | +21.53% |
| 1Y returni | +38.69% | +9.72% |
$10,000 invested — hypothetical growth (dividends reinvested)
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | GOOGL | AMZN |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $13.87K (+38.7%) started 2025-09-18 | $10.97K (+9.7%) started 2025-09-18 |
| 5Y ago | $25.44K (+154.4%) started 2021-09-20 | $15.12K (+51.2%) started 2021-09-20 |
| 10Y ago | $88.74K (+787.4%) started 2016-09-19 | $65.47K (+554.7%) started 2016-09-19 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
Valuation & upside potential
| Metric | GOOGL | AMZN |
|---|---|---|
| Market capi | $4.24T | $2.77T |
| Trailing P/Ei | 17.39 | 20.66 |
| Forward P/Ei | 23.37 | 24.68 |
| Price/Salesi | 5.88 | 3.49 |
| EV/Revenuei | 9.27 | 3.74 |
| Analyst targeti | $428.07 | $328.17 |
| Target upsidei | +23.51% | +27.80% |
Growth, profitability & risk
| Metric | GOOGL | AMZN |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growthi | 24.20% | 19.60% |
| Earnings growthi | 294.00% | 242.30% |
| EPS growthi | +294.00% | +242.30% |
| FCF margini | +5.08% | +0.42% |
| Operating margini | 34.03% | 13.69% |
| Profit margini | 54.77% | 17.44% |
| ROIC proxyi | 48.68% | 30.56% |
| Return on equityi | 48.68% | 30.56% |
| Dividend yieldi | 0.25% | N/A |
| Payout ratioi | 4.26% | 0.00% |
| Dividend growth streaki | No increase yet | N/A |
| Betai | 1.24 | 1.44 |
| Debt/equityi | 18.86 | 45.62 |
| Current ratioi | 2.72 | 1.03 |
| Quick ratioi | 2.47 | 0.84 |
Correlation
Over the past year, GOOGL and AMZN have moved moderately in the same direction (correlation of 0.53), based on daily returns.
1Y
0.53
-1.0+1.0
5Y
0.62
-1.0+1.0
10Y
0.64
-1.0+1.0
Drawdown & downside risk
Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.
1Y risk snapshot
GOOGL max drawdowni21.09%
AMZN max drawdowni21.74%
GOOGL max wkly dropi10.37%
AMZN max wkly dropi14.09%
5Y risk snapshot
GOOGL max drawdowni44.32%
AMZN max drawdowni55.73%
GOOGL max wkly dropi13.41%
AMZN max wkly dropi20.35%
10Y risk snapshot
GOOGL max drawdowni44.32%
AMZN max drawdowni56.15%
GOOGL max wkly dropi15.46%
AMZN max wkly dropi20.35%
Performance metrics by period
| Period | Metric | GOOGL | AMZN |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growthi | +38.69% | +9.72% |
| CAGRi | +38.72% | +9.73% | |
| Volatilityi | 31.42% | 34.38% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 1.06 | 0.31 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 1.69 | 0.50 | |
| Max drawdowni | 21.09% | 21.74% | |
| Current drawdowni | 13.18% | 10.67% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 6.98% | 8.77% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 9.08% | 10.44% | |
| Max daily dropi | 7.13% | 5.55% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 10.37% | 14.09% | |
| 5Y | Growthi | +153.18% | +51.21% |
| CAGRi | +20.44% | +8.63% | |
| Volatilityi | 32.15% | 36.46% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.60 | 0.29 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.88 | 0.42 | |
| Max drawdowni | 44.32% | 55.73% | |
| Current drawdowni | 13.18% | 10.67% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 13.54% | 18.17% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 17.56% | 23.56% | |
| Max daily dropi | 9.51% | 14.05% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 13.41% | 20.35% | |
| 10Y | Growthi | +783.12% | +554.65% |
| CAGRi | +24.35% | +20.68% | |
| Volatilityi | 29.58% | 33.12% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.73 | 0.60 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 1.07 | 0.88 | |
| Max drawdowni | 44.32% | 56.15% | |
| Current drawdowni | 13.18% | 10.67% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 9.72% | 12.88% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 13.74% | 18.19% | |
| Max daily dropi | 11.63% | 14.05% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 15.46% | 20.35% |
Business comparison
| Category | GOOGL | AMZN |
|---|---|---|
| Company | Alphabet Inc. | Amazon.com, Inc. |
| Sector | Communication Services | Consumer Cyclical |
| Industry | Internet Content & Information | Internet Retail |
| Core business | Alphabet operates Google — the world's dominant search engine and advertising platform — alongside YouTube, Google Cloud, Android, Chrome, Waymo (autonomous vehicles), and DeepMind (AI research). Google Search and YouTube together generate the vast majority of Alphabet's revenue through advertising. Google Cloud is the third-largest cloud platform (after AWS and Azure) growing 25–30% annually. Alphabet's AI capabilities (Gemini models, DeepMind) and data advantage from billions of daily searches create a formidable AI development foundation. | Amazon operates the world's largest e-commerce marketplace, AWS (the #1 cloud platform with 30%+ market share), and a rapidly growing advertising business. AWS generates most of Amazon's operating profit. Amazon's advertising business serves high-intent shoppers and is now $50B+ annually. Prime membership creates loyalty across retail, streaming (Prime Video), music, and healthcare. Amazon's AI strategy (Bedrock, Nova models, Alexa+ upgrade) targets enterprise GenAI while defending e-commerce from AI-powered shopping alternatives. |
| Investor focus | Investors track Google Search revenue resilience against AI chatbot disruption, YouTube advertising revenue and premium subscriptions, Google Cloud growth vs AWS and Azure, and Waymo commercial expansion. | Investors track AWS revenue growth and market share vs Azure, advertising revenue growth, North America e-commerce operating margin improvement, and the profitability improvement trajectory of Amazon's overall business model. |
GOOGL strengths
- Google Search's advertising business generates $175B+ annually — intent-based advertising (users actively searching for products) commands premium CPMs that social and display advertising cannot match
- DeepMind and Google Brain AI research capabilities, combined with proprietary search data, give Alphabet AI training advantages — Gemini Ultra competes with GPT-4 and Claude at the frontier
- YouTube is the dominant online video platform with 2B+ monthly users — YouTube ads and YouTube Premium subscriptions create media platform revenue alongside search advertising
AMZN strengths
- AWS is the largest cloud platform with the deepest enterprise relationships — 200+ cloud services, 30%+ market share, and the most enterprise cloud customers of any provider
- E-commerce advertising reaches high-intent buyers at the moment of product discovery — Amazon advertising is uniquely valuable because shoppers are already looking to buy
- Prime flywheel: Prime memberships drive e-commerce loyalty, which drives advertising, which drives third-party seller revenue, which drives Prime delivery investment — self-reinforcing ecosystem
Risks to watch — GOOGL
- AI chatbots (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude) threaten Google Search's moat — if AI assistant interfaces replace search queries, Google's core advertising revenue is at risk
- Google Cloud's third-place position vs AWS and Azure may create share loss pressure as enterprises standardize on fewer cloud vendors
- Antitrust actions — DOJ ruling against Google's search distribution agreements (default search on Apple) could force structural changes to Google's distribution advantage
Risks to watch — AMZN
- AWS market share growth has slowed as Azure's AI workloads win enterprise attention — Microsoft's OpenAI partnership is drawing enterprise AI workloads to Azure
- E-commerce operating margins remain thin — heavy logistics investment limits retail profitability vs pure digital businesses like Google
- Amazon's AI strategy (Bedrock, Nova) must compete with Microsoft's deeply integrated Copilot AI ecosystem across Office/Teams/Azure — enterprise AI platform competition is fierce
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