GOOGL Stock Hits $1,000 and Isn't Looking Back

Wayne Duggan

Google parent company Alphabet Inc ( GOOG, GOOGL) reached yet another major milestone on Wall Street this week when its Class A stock, which trades under the ticker GOOGL, eclipsed the $1,000-per-share mark for the first time.

Fortunately for Google investors, Wall Street analysts still see plenty of growth opportunities ahead for Google, suggesting $1,000 per share may only be the beginning.

Google's big day on Monday came less than a week after rival technology giant Amazon.com ( AMZN) broke $1,000 per share for the first time as well. While Amazon may have beaten Google to the $1,000-per-share mark, Alphabet is currently valued at a market capitalization of more than $692 billion compared to only a $488 billion market cap for Amazon. That valuation makes Alphabet the second-largest company in the entire Standard and Poor's 500 index. Alphabet trails only Apple ( AAPL), which is valued at just over $812 billion.

[See: The 10 Best Ways to Buy Tech Stocks.]

However, according to Pacific Crest analyst Andy Hargreaves, the valuation gap between Google and Apple will soon be narrowing. On Monday, Hargreaves downgraded Apple from "overweight" to "sector weight" and urged long-term Apple investors to consider buying Alphabet stock instead.

"We recommend large-cap tech investors use proceeds from sales of AAPL to purchase GOOGL, which we believe retains an excellent risk/reward profile and more substantial upside potential than AAPL," Hargreaves says in his analyst note.

While Google's core online advertising business continues to grow, the company has also been expanding into the massive, high-growth markets of cloud computing, artificial intelligence and autonomous vehicle technology. Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas recently estimated that Google's driverless car unit, Waymo, could eventually reach a $70 billion valuation on its own.

[Read: 7 Best Tech Stocks to Buy for 2017.]

Google, Amazon, Facebook ( FB) and Netflix ( NFLX), collectively known as the FANG stocks, have been market leaders throughout much of the current bull market. All four stocks are up more than 26 percent so far in 2017.

Alphabet's Class A stock finished Monday's session at a price of $1,003.88 per share. The company's Class C stock, which trades under the ticker GOOG and holds no shareholder voting rights, closed the day at $983.68 per share.

Wayne Duggan is a freelance investment strategy reporter with a focus on energy and emerging market stocks. He has a degree in brain and cognitive sciences from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and specializes in the psychological challenges of investing. He is a senior financial market reporter for Benzinga and has contributed financial market analysis to Motley Fool, Seeking Alpha and InvestorPlace. He is also the author of the book "Beating Wall Street With Common Sense," which focuses on the practical strategies he has used to outperform the stock market. You can follow him on Twitter @DugganSense, check out his latest content at tradingcommonsense.com or email him at wpd@tradingcommonsense.com.