Waymo is putting its foot firmly on the accelerator. The self-driving unit owned by Alphabet (GOOG) (GOOGL) just snapped up a 5,500-acre autonomous vehicle testing facility in Wittmann, Arizona, from Route 14 Investment Partners, a Delaware entity tied to Apple (AAPL).
Property records filed in Maricopa County show Waymo paid $220 million for the proving ground, with the deal officially landing on June 5. The purchase gives Waymo a much larger playground to fine-tune its technology. The facility packs an 115-acre urban driving course, a 35-acre vehicle dynamics area, a four-mile high-speed oval track, and a dedicated freeway course built specifically for autonomous vehicle testing.
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The site will help recreate real-world driving situations in a tightly controlled setting, allowing engineers to keep testing and sharpening the performance of the company's self-driving system. The Arizona facility now stands as the largest closed-course testing site in Waymo's network, joining existing locations such as Castle Proving Ground in California and the Transportation Research Center in Ohio.
The expansion comes as Waymo widens its commercial robotaxi footprint across Phoenix and Maricopa County. The company first rolled out autonomous vehicle testing in Chandler, Arizona, in 2017. Since then, it has stretched its reach to more than 10 U.S. cities, including Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area, Austin, and Atlanta.
About Alphabet Stock
Mountain View, California-based Alphabet is a global technology giant currently with a market cap of roughly $4.3 trillion. The behemoth earns the lion's share of its revenue from digital advertising, though its business stretches far beyond that.
Its portfolio spans consumer internet services, cloud computing, artificial intelligence (AI), productivity software, subscription products, and connected devices. The company is also investing in future growth areas, including autonomous transportation, internet connectivity, and other long-term technology initiatives.
Investors have had plenty to cheer about. GOOGL stock has soared 96.49% over the past 52 weeks, added 11.34% since the start of the year, and advanced another 12.89% during the last three months, underscoring the market's continued confidence in Alphabet's growth story.
www.barchart.com From a valuation standpoint, GOOGL stock is currently trading at 25.49 times forward adjusted earnings and 8.92 times sales. Both metrics stand above the industry average as well as the stock's own five-year average multiples, reflecting the premium investors are willing to pay for Alphabet's dominant market position and long-term growth prospects.
Alphabet also returns capital to shareholders. The company currently pays an annual dividend of $0.88 per share, which translates to a dividend yield of 0.24%.
On April 27, Alphabet announced a quarterly cash dividend of $0.22 per share, marking a 5% increase from the previous quarterly payout of $0.21 per share. The dividend is scheduled to be paid on June 15 to shareholders of record as of June 8.
A Closer Look at Alphabet’s Q1 Earnings
Alphabet delivered blockbuster Q1 FY2026 results on April 29, leaving Wall Street scrambling to keep pace. Investors welcomed the results with open arms, sending the stock 10% higher in the next trading session. Revenue climbed 21.8% year-over-year (YOY) to $109.9 billion, ahead of analyst estimates of $107.2 billion. Adjusted EPS reached $2.62, slightly missing Street’s expectations of $2.63.
Search and Other revenue jumped 19.1% to $60.4 billion. Cloud revenue soared 63.4%, crossing the $20 billion mark for the first time. The segment's backlog nearly doubled from the previous quarter to more than $460 billion.
Subscriptions delivered their strongest quarter ever, driven largely by adoption of the Gemini App. Paid subscriptions across the ecosystem reached 350 million, with YouTube and Google One leading the charge.
Other Bets generated $411 million in revenue during the quarter, down from $450 million a year earlier. Even so, Waymo's operational momentum continued to strengthen as weekly autonomous rides crossed the 500,000 mark.
Waymo, which sits in the Other Bets segment, added another feather to its cap in February when it secured $16 billion in fresh funding from outside investors, giving the business a valuation of $126 billion.
Moreover, Alphabet spent $35.7 billion on capital expenditures during the quarter. Management also raised FY2026 capital expenditure guidance to a range of $180 billion to $190 billion from its earlier forecast of $175 billion to $185 billion. Plus, executives expect capital expenditures in 2027 to rise significantly from 2026 levels.
Looking forward, Wall Street expects Alphabet's Q2 FY2026 EPS to increase 23.4% YOY to $2.85. Analysts forecast a full-year FY2026 bottom line of $14.30, representing growth of 32.3%, while forecasts for FY2027 call for EPS of $14.75, which would mark another 3.15% increase.
What Do Analysts Expect for Alphabet Stock?
Wall Street is backing Alphabet with considerable conviction. They have assigned the stock an overall "Strong Buy" rating. Among 54 analysts covering the stock, 44 rate it “Strong Buy,” four recommend “Moderate Buy,” and six suggest “Hold.”
To that end, the stock’s average price target of $433.24 represents potential upside of 24.4%. Meanwhile, the Street-High target of $515 suggests a gain of 47.9% from current levels.
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www.barchart.com On the date of publication, Aanchal Sugandh did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.
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