** Alphabet GOOGL.O reassured jittery tech investors that its AI investments were powering returns at its crucial ad business on Thursday, downplaying any impact from global economic uncertainty, for now

** Shares of Google parent up 5.6% at $168.26 in premarket trading

CLOUDS ON THE HORIZON

** Morgan Stanley ("overweight," PT: $185) says co needs to quickly develop and release more new large language models and GenAI-enabled products to maintain its leading position in the online ecosystem

** RBC Capital Markets ("outperform," PT: $200) says although AI poses challenges, co is managing to grow its search business more sustainably, with the AI Overview helping to recover lost search volume better than expected

** Wells Fargo ("equal weight," PT: $175) says co's shift to conversational search will create uncertainty and likely slow down search growth in the medium term

** "Even if Google maintains search leadership, we do not expect the company to replicate its prior prosperity in the next decade", adds Wells Fargo

** Goldman Sachs ("buy," PT: $205) expects the focus to be on broader digital advertising trends, including end demand by vertical and geography, due to macroeconomic uncertainty

(Reporting by Akriti Shah in Bengaluru)

((akriti.shah@thomsonreuters.com))