Barclays Analyst Upgrades Google

Twitter’s financial affairs may be receiving a lot of attention today, but at least one analyst hasn’t forgotten about the search and advertising giant we all usually watch.  In fact, Doug Anmuth of Barclays Capital decided to upgrade his estimates for Google this morning.

Anmuth’s price target is now set at $575.00, which would represent an increase of about 16.2 percent over Google’s current standing at $494.97.  That’s a nice gain, especially given the still-iffy state of the overall economy.

Anmuth wasn’t just making up comforting numbers, though.  If you look at the graph below (which comes courtesy of Google Finance), it becomes hard to dispute the idea that Google’s stock is on the mend after hitting a three-year low of $247.30 in November. 

Moreover, while adjusting his forecast, Anmuth cited "[i]mproving macro conditions, a stronger ad market, & FX tailwinds" in addition to some industry scuttlebutt, according to Dan Frommer.

Unfortunately for existing shareholders and/or Google fans, it just doesn’t look like the climb to $575 is going to start today – Google’s stock is down 0.36 percent at the moment in rough accordance with the rest of the market.