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Trader says this is the most important 'FANG' stock to report next week

Here's what to expect from Alphabet earnings
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Here's what to expect from Alphabet earnings

Ahead of Google parent company Alphabet's quarterly earnings report next week, one trader says he's watching for the company's report as a bellwether for technology stocks.

"So much of their revenue is based on advertising, and that is so important for the tech industry. So we know that, if ad dollars are flowing to Google, there's a very good chance they are flowing to these other, smaller tech companies within the broader tech sector as well," Eddy Elfenbein, editor of the Crossing Wall Street blog, said Friday on CNBC's "Trading Nation."

Alphabet reports after the market closes on Monday, and Elfenbein will be watching for the stock's movement as its earnings are released. After Alphabet's last quarterly earnings report in April, the stock rose more than 4 percent as it beat both earnings and revenue expectations.

Surely, owning the stocks comes with risks, Elfenbein said. The stock is "very volatile," and can drop "dramatically" in a short period of time, he added. The stock will likely come in line with analysts' expectations, he said, and will probably not see a dramatic move in either direction.

Elfenbein said investors ought not to be too concerned with short-term movement in the share price.

In a note to clients on Thursday, Stifel Nicolaus managing director Scott Devitt wrote that gross revenue growth in the second quarter will likely decelerate as the company continues to "drive growth at scale driven by mobile search."

Devitt carries a "buy" rating on the stock, with a bullish $1,075 price target. When it comes to the earnings call Monday afternoon, Devitt wrote that he expects management to be asked to discuss the company's recent fine handed down by the European Commission last month.

Analysts largely give the stock a price target of $1,063.56, according to FactSet estimates. This implies a little more than 7 percent of upside from its Friday closing price of $993 per share. Analysts are expecting earnings of $4.39 per share, per FactSet.