Is Alphabet the Best "Magnificent Seven" AI Stock?

The "Magnificent Seven" -- Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG)(NASDAQ: GOOGL), Meta Platforms, and Tesla -- have carried the market for three years now, and most investors own at least one of them whether they meant to or not (thanks to index funds). But the seven have drifted far apart. Tesla trades at well over 100 times forward earnings, even as it fights its way through a hard stretch in autos. Nvidia, meanwhile, is valued more conservatively and sits at the center of the artificial intelligence (AI) build-out. And Apple is building momentum in both its business and its stock over the last year.

But if you could only add one of them today, which deserves the money?

I think Alphabet should be a top choice.

Image source: Getty Images.

A cloud business pulling its weight

Most people probably still think of Alphabet as a search and advertising business. And it is. But there's more to the business.

Sure, Google Search and other advertising revenue rose 19% year over year in the first quarter of 2026 to $60.4 billion, with management saying queries hit an all-time high as AI features pulled people back in rather than pushing them away.

But there's a fast-growing and increasingly important part of the business that has become a major catalyst: Google Cloud, its cloud computing segment. First-quarter cloud revenue jumped 63% year over year to $20 billion, an acceleration from the 48% growth it posted just one quarter earlier. That pace is faster than what either of its two larger rivals reported in their most recent quarters.

Further, Google Cloud's operating income roughly tripled year over year to $6.6 billion, and the segment's operating margin climbed to 32.9% from 17.8% a year earlier.

And demand is outpacing supply.

"Our Cloud revenue would have been higher if we were able to meet the demand," CEO Sundar Pichai said on the first-quarter earnings call.

Indeed, the segment's backlog -- contracted work not yet recognized as revenue -- nearly doubled in a single quarter to $462 billion.

Pichai tied the edge to owning the whole stack.

"The fact that we own frontier models, own the silicon, really helps us stay ahead of the curve," he said on the call, pointing to Alphabet's custom chips and its Gemini models as a combination rivals can't easily copy.

A compelling opportunity

But there's a steep cost behind this growth story.

Alphabet expects 2026 capital expenditures -- its spending on data centers, servers, and networking gear -- of $180 billion to $190 billion, and management has already said 2027 will rise meaningfully from there. A bill that size could pressure free cash flow for years, and it only pays off if the cloud demand behind it holds. There's also the company's heavy reliance on advertising, which could soften in a weak economy. And ongoing regulatory scrutiny over Alphabet's sprawling operations is unlikely to disappear.

But here is what keeps pulling me back to Alphabet over the rest of the group. The stock trades at about 28 times earnings and roughly 26 times forward earnings.

In other words, you're paying a market-average multiple for a company whose cloud arm grew 63% last quarter and whose core search business is still growing at a high-teens clip.

That gap between how fast the business is moving and how cheaply it's priced is exactly why I think Alphabet is one of the best Magnificent Seven stocks to buy.

Of course, this could change. A few strong quarters from a rival, or a stumble in Alphabet's own spending discipline, could make Alphabet less attractive. But weighing growth, profitability, and price together, I think Alphabet is a top Magnificent Seven stock to buy today.

Daniel Sparks and his clients have positions in Apple and Tesla. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Tesla. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.