Breadcrumb

What is Alphabet Stock?

Written by

The GoCardless content team comprises a group of subject-matter experts in multiple fields from across GoCardless. The authors and reviewers work in the sales, marketing, legal, and finance departments. All have in-depth knowledge and experience in various aspects of payment scheme technology and the operating rules applicable to each. The team holds expertise in the well-established payment schemes such as UK Direct Debit, the European SEPA scheme, and the US ACH scheme, as well as in schemes operating in Scandinavia, Australia, and New Zealand. See full bio

Last editedJun 20212 min read

Alphabet stock refers to the shares you can buy in the US conglomerate Alphabet Inc., parent company of Google. The parent was created in 2015 by Google’s original founders to hold a number of subsidiaries alongside its Google search engine and other products.

It is possible to buy two types of Alphabet stock: Class A shares and Class C shares. You can find both on the Nasdaq exchange under the ticker symbols GOOGL for Class A shares and GOOG for Class C.

Alphabet stock classes

The Class A GOOGL shares of Alphabet stock are primarily intended for long-term or experienced investors. They are more expensive to buy initially, but will incur lower long-term fees over time.

Experienced individual investors will usually have such Class A shares recommended to them by commissioned mutual fund brokers. Buyers will pay an additional commission fee, with discounts on the fee possible if the investor buys a large enough amount of shares or already owns other shares offered by the same broker.

The Class C GOOG shares are intended for beginner investors with fewer initial funds to invest. They are less expensive than Class A shares at first and tend to return quicker short-term gains, but the fees are higher in the long term.

Mutual fund brokers will also recommend Class C to individuals, with some even eschewing the up-front fee for higher fees payable upon sale of the shares.

Alphabet Inc. subsidiaries

It is worth getting to know the other Alphabet Inc. subsidiaries before deciding on an investment in either Class A or Class C shares. As well as Google, Google Fiber and GV (Google Ventures), there are several other organisations whose performances can affect the Alphabet stock price. Here is a quick rundown of the other main subsidiaries besides the main Google-focused companies.

Calico LLC

Calico is an American research and development biotech company founded in 2013. Its primary objective is to find solutions to combat ageing and the diseases associated with old age.

CapitalG

A Google-supported private equity firm, CapitalG invests for profit in large, growth-stage technology companies that work in areas such as big data, financial technology, online security and e-learning.

DeepMind

British artificial intelligence and research laboratory DeepMind Technologies was founded in 2010 and acquired by Google in 2014 to become a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc. a year later.

Sidewalk Labs

As Alphabet’s urban innovation organisation, Sidewalk Labs uses technological innovations to improve urban infrastructure such as the cost of living, transport efficiency and energy usage.

Verily Life Sciences

Research organisation Verily is dedicated to the study of life sciences such as microorganisms, plants, animals and even human beings.

Waymo LLC

Waymo is an autonomous driving technology development company that operates a commercial self-driving taxi service in Arizona. In the six years prior to Waymo becoming an Alphabet subsidiary, Google reportedly spent $1.1 billion on the project.

Wing

With operations in Australia and Finland as well as the US, Wing has been working on developing drone-based technology, specifically for the delivery of freight.

X Development LLC

Formerly known as Google X, this organisation includes a secretive R&D facility that has developed technology such as Google Glass, as well as helping develop the tech for other Alphabet subsidiaries such as Waymo and Wing.

How to buy Alphabet stock

The first step is identifying a trading platform that offers you suitable terms for the type of investment you want to make, then opening and funding a brokerage account. Each broker will offer various commission fees and investment tools, so seek out the platform that best suits your financial goals.

Next, conduct research into the history of Alphabet’s stock price and its forecast to ensure it is a reasonable investment according to your goals. If you like the Alphabet stock price, decide to buy, how many shares to purchase. Thereafter, you should check regularly on your investment by tracking Alphabet stock’s performance.

We can help

If you’re interested in finding out more about Alphabet stock, or any other types of shares and investments for your business, then get in touch with our financial experts. Find out how GoCardless can help you with ad hoc payments or recurring payments.