Alphabet names Eli Lilly CFO Anat Ashkenazi its new chief of finance

Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ: GOOGL) is in focus today after naming Anat Ashkenazi as its new chief of finance. 

Who is Anat Ashkenazi - Google's new CFO

Ashkenazi has most recently served in a similar role at Eli Lilly & Co. The news arrives about a year after the tech titan said Ruth Porat - its then CFO will assume the role of president and chief investment officer. 

Anat Ashkenazi was with Eli Lilly for more than two decades. Google is convinced her “track record of strategic focus on long-term investment [will] fuel innovation and growth”. 

Note that Alphabet Inc has been making other changes at its finance unit as well. These included layoffs and relocations this year as the multinational ramps up its investments in artificial intelligence. 

In April, Google reported its financial results for its first quarter that topped Street estimates and announced its first-ever dividend as well (find out more). 

Shares of Alphabet Inc are currently up more than 30% versus their year-to-date low in early March. 

Is it too late to invest in Google stock?

Despite exciting performance this year, Eric Sheridan - a Goldman Sachs analyst continues to see further upside in Google stock moving forward. 

His $195 price target signals potential for another 10% gain from here. Sheridan is convinced the titan is leading the AI race. Artificial intelligence will continue to boost its ad revenue in particular in the coming months, he told clients in a research note last month.

CEO Sundar Pichai also touted Gen AI as a catalyst for $GOOGL on the earnings call in April. 

Alphabet Inc also announced Gemini 1.5 Flash – its most powerful AI model at its developer conference or Google I/O in May. It rolled out an enhanced Gemini 1.5 Pro last month as well (read more).

Note that Eric Sheridan is not the only one who’s bullish on shares of the $2.18 trillion company based out of California, United States. Chris Versace of “TheStreet Pro” also recently recommended owning Google stock that he added could hit $200 by the end of 2024.