Obviously, nobody owns a functioning crystal ball. And as the old adage goes, past performance is no guarantee of future results. Still, with a bit of well-reasoned conjecture, a company’s past and present can paint a reasonably good picture of what’s likely ahead.

To this end, here’s my prediction of what Alphabet (GOOG +4.95%) (GOOGL +5.10%) stock’s price will be at this point in the year 2031, and why.

Image source: Getty Images.

The assumptions about Alphabet

Let’s start with my key assumptions.

The first of these is simply that Alphabet’s trailing-12-month price-to-earnings ratio will remain around the 25 level that it’s lingered around for the past several years. Let’s also assume a net profit margin of 30%, down slightly from…