Alphabet Stock Is an Easy Call to Buy Before the Split There are times where Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL , NASDAQ: GOOG ) stock acts as a flight-to-safety trade. Its strong financials attract investors when they are feeling skittish or worried. However, GOOG stock can only hold up so well when the proverbial crap is hitting the fan. Take the Covid-19 selloff, for instance. The Nasdaq sold off roughly 33%, while Alphabet dipped 34%. During the most recent selloff, Alphabet fell 32.7% to the Nasdaq’s 31.9% dip. In both cases, Alphabet roughly tracked the index on the downside, it couldn’t outperform it. On the plus side, GOOG stock rallied 200% from the Covid lows vs. the Nasdaq’s 150% rally. 7 Tempting Tech Stocks to Pull the Trigger on Now Where are we going with this? During mild pullbacks, Alphabet may be a go-to. However, during the truly turbulent times, its staying power is compromised. That said, look at many of the high-flying growth stocks that are now down 70% to 80% or more. Look at more than half of FAANG or even high-quality stocks like Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ: AMD ) and Salesforce (NYSE: CRM ), which have lost roughly 50% of their value.