As OpenAI's valuation soars to $830 billion in private markets, a pointed question emerges: why is Alphabet, a major player in the same AI field, valued at less than half the revenue multiple in public markets?

This past Thursday, the Nasdaq index fell 0.4%, continuing the sell-off in tech stocks. While it appeared to be an ordinary day in February 2026, a significant divergence was brewing beneath the surface. Investor anxiety about AI disrupting established giants persists, continuing to pressure the stock prices of leaders like Alphabet. Concurrently, private AI frontrunners like OpenAI are securing funding at valuations that constantly challenge conventional understanding.

Analyzing the situation, The Information's analyst Martin Peers suggests that if investors accept OpenAI's $830 billion valuation, it should logically be a positive signal for Alphabet.

According to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence, a valuation of $830 billion places ChatGPT's creator, OpenAI, at 14 times its projected 2027 revenue. In contrast, Alphabet currently trades at just 6.7 times its own projected 2027 revenue.

Arithmetically, this implies that to align with the same "2027 revenue multiple" metric, Alphabet's valuation multiple would need to nearly double (14/6.7≈2.1). It is important to note this is merely a comparison of valuation scales.

Although Alphabet's recent performance has surpassed other tech giants, its year-to-date stock price remains in negative territory.

The market's bullish thesis on OpenAI centers on a "high-growth premium"—as a business still under construction, its revenues are expected to experience explosive growth in the coming years. This is a valid perspective, but investors appear to be overlooking two critical facts:

A profitability chasm: OpenAI is currently incurring significant losses and is expected to continue burning cash for several years, with its ultimate path to profitability remaining uncertain.

A moat comparison: Alphabet possesses nearly all the technical AI capabilities that OpenAI has (excluding the recurring management drama) and, crucially, operates highly mature, cash-generating businesses that OpenAI lacks.

As analyst Martin Peers framed it: "Who would you rather bet on?"

An Overlooked Giant's Advantage? Amid the investor rush to exit tech stocks, an obvious trend is being ignored: some established giants are poised to emerge from the AI transition wealthier and more powerful. In Peers' view, Alphabet clearly belongs to this category.

"Some companies will become stronger and richer after the AI transition. Alphabet is certainly among them," Peers noted.

Furthermore, Microsoft, which holds a 27% stake in OpenAI, and cloud services dominator Amazon also possess the potential to be winners. Although their stock performance over the past year has caused investor hesitation, the current valuation gap might present an opportunity for independent thinking.

For the market, Peers' core argument is not about providing a single answer to "what Alphabet should be worth." Instead, it highlights the two main narratives in the current valuation system: one represented by OpenAI's high-multiple "growth bet," and the other by Alphabet's "cash flow and certainty discount." How these narratives rebalance will depend on the market's speed in reassessing the path to AI commercialization and the evolving competitive landscape.