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Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL)(NASDAQ: GOOG) investors should be quite pleased with its performance over the past year. The stock was trading around $115 last July, but it hit a high of $191.75 on July 10 (a 67% rise).

Several factors helped to propel shares, including the distribution of the first dividend in its history. Given the stock has already risen so much, have potential new shareholders missed out?

Not necessarily, although Alphabet's future is murky right now, pending the outcomes of two crucial antitrust lawsuits against the company. Here's a deeper dive to assess if now is a good time to buy shares.

Investors appreciated Alphabet's awesome quarter

Alphabet's excellent first-quarter performance contributed to the stock's rise this year. Its revenue of $80.5 billion was a 15% jump from $69.8 billion in the year-ago quarter. The impressive financial results included operating margin improving to 32% from 25% last year. Quarterly net income was $23.7 billion, compared to $15.1 billion a year ago. This led to diluted earnings per share of $1.89, versus $1.17 last year.

The company's streak of strong free cash flow (FCF) also continued. FCF was $16.8 billion in the quarter and $69.1 billion for the trailing 12 months. Alphabet ended the quarter with an exceptional balance sheet. Assets totaled $407.4 billion compared to $114.5 billion in liabilities. Cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities were $108.1 billion.

The icing on the cake was the company's announcement of its first dividend: $0.20 per share quarterly, which translates to a 0.4% yield.

Several Alphabet business segments are booming

The company's financial success is due to growth in several of its businesses. Its advertising operations are flourishing thanks to increased spending on digital ads.

The global digital ad market is forecast to see double-digit growth in 2024 and in subsequent years. Advertising income made up $61.7 billion of Alphabet's $80.5 billion in quarterly revenue. The company is also increasing sales in its Google Cloud segment: $9.6 billion, up from $7.5 billion in 2023. It is now the third-largest cloud vendor in the world.

Lastly, Alphabet generates a significant chunk of sales from subscriptions and other services, such as its ad-free YouTube Premium offering. These sources reached $8.7 billion in revenue, up from the prior year's $7.4 billion.

These excellent results, combined with a newly established dividend, provide compelling reasons to buy the stock.

To buy or not to buy

And yet, there are some potential issues to keep in mind as you investigate this stock.

Alphabet faces a potential risk from the antitrust cases brought against it by the U.S. government. One case involves the Google search engine and the other targets Alphabet's lucrative digital advertising business. The trial in the former case concluded in May, and is awaiting a judge's decision. The digital ad trial is scheduled to begin in September. Both outcomes could affect shares substantially because these lawsuits jeopardize the biggest parts of the business.

For instance, the search-engine case encompasses Alphabet's contracts with other companies, such as Apple, that make Google Search the default choice in their various products. These deals helped Google attain over a 90% market share, and in the first quarter, Google Search contributed $46.2 billion of Alphabet's $80.5 billion in revenue. The government argued that these deals give Google a monopoly in search.

Another consideration in whether to buy the stock is the perspective of Wall Street analysts. The current consensus among the analysts gives Alphabet an overweight rating with a median share price of $195.25. That suggests Alphabet stock doesn't have much upside over the next 12 months or so from its current price of around $188.

So depending on your risk tolerance, you might want to wait to buy shares until the antitrust cases are resolved.

Alphabet could emerge from the lawsuits victorious or with a manageable fine. In that event, given the company's growth across multiple lines of business, its prodigious FCF, and other strong financials, the stock is a worthwhile buy.

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Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Robert Izquierdo has positions in Alphabet and Apple. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet and Apple. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.