Buy Alphabet Shares

Alphabet is Google’s parent company. It came into existence in 2015 through Google’s restructuring.

One of the world’s top companies, Alphabet is the third-largest technology company in the world. If you’re looking to add technology stocks to your portfolio, it is certainly something to consider.

Before you buy Alphabet stock, here’s what you should know about the company and its popular securities.

Types of Alphabet Stock

You will find Alphabet stock under two ticker symbols: GOOG and GOOGL. Which one should you get?

GOOGL vs GOOG

GOOGL is a Class A common stock. As such, it lends its owners voting rights and a say in how Alphabet’s business develops.

GOOG is a Class C stock. Unlike GOOGL, it does not give holders voting rights. If you hold such shares, you will benefit from their appreciation. You will not have a say in how Alphabet shapes its business.

Why does Alphabet have two types of stocks?

Google only had stock with voting rights. Sergey Brin and Larry Page, Google’s founders, found a way to raise money through stocks without giving up control of the company. By issuing a Class C share for each Class A Alphabet share, the founders solved the problem through a stock split.

This way, Brin and Page don’t have to worry about activist investors squeezing them to force various investor-friendly measures that may hurt the long-term potential and evolution of the company.

Because Class C shares do not offer voting rights, they are slightly cheaper than Class A shares.

What about the Class B Alphabet Shares?

If there are Class A and Class C shares shouldn’t there be Class B shares as well?

Class B shares are special shares that grant their owners ten times the votes that Class A shares provide. Class B shareholders have a disproportionate amount of control over how the company is run.

Alphabet’s Class B shares are in the founders’ possession. You don’t have to worry about buying and holding such stock.

What Makes Alphabet Stock Attractive?                 

Alphabet has another stock split in July 2022. This stock split issues 20 shares for each existing Alphabet share.

• Historically, tech companies that split their stocks end up doing well.
• Practically, Google has a monopoly over internet search.
• Google Cloud is a high-potential, high-growth business.
• Alphabet is looking to give back more to its shareholders.

With cutting-edge research, enterprise cloud infrastructure, and interesting acquisitions, Alphabet stock seems perpetually undervalued.

More reading: Invest in Stocks or Buy stocks and shares in UK