PREVIEW: Alphabet shares up; seen reporting higher Q1 rev and EPS

Shares in Google's parent Alphabet GOOGL.O up ~2% on Thur in broad market rally, due to report Q1 financial results after market close

Wall St sees GOOGL reporting adj EPS of $2.01 vs $1.89 in year-ago quarter on rev of $89.12 bln vs $80.54 bln year-ago, according to latest data gathered by LSEG

In last 8 quarters, GOOGL's EPS beat consensus view every time while rev beat 7 times

While Alphabet's Google has previous reaffirmed capital expense plans for the year, investors will monitor for indications on whether U.S. policy will force businesses to rethink ambitious infrastructure plans and AI investments

GOOGL last traded at $157.98 vs median PT of $200, down from $220 a month ago, according to LSEG, which shows 56 analyst ratings: 15 'strong buy,' 28 'buy' and 13 'hold'

YTD shares in GOOGL down 16.6% after rising 35.5% in 2024 vs YTD loss of 7.7% for the S&P 500 communications services index .SPLRCL, which rose 38.9% in 2024