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Tag: Alphabet

  • Divergent Planning LLC Takes $6.91 Million Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

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    Divergent Planning LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL – Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 39,189 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $6,906,000. Alphabet comprises approximately 1.2% of Divergent Planning LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding.

    Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in Alphabet by 242.9% in the 1st quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. von Borstel & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter valued at $28,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter valued at $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 85.7% during the first quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter valued at $39,000. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

    Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

    A number of analysts have recently issued reports on GOOGL shares. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $306.00 target price (up from $255.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. BMO Capital Markets set a $294.00 target price on shares of Alphabet and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $330.00 price target (up previously from $285.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on Alphabet from $265.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $301.98.

    Check Out Our Latest Research Report on GOOGL

    Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

    In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,816 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.42, for a total transaction of $4,408,034.72. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 42,985 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,635,348.70. This represents a 29.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.92, for a total transaction of $145,752.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 5,116 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,242,778.72. The trade was a 10.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 246,150 shares of company stock valued at $55,805,379. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

    Alphabet Price Performance

    GOOGL opened at $281.31 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $140.53 and a 12-month high of $291.59. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $244.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $199.68. The company has a market capitalization of $3.40 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.74, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

    Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by $0.58. The company had revenue of $102.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.90 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 36.08% and a net margin of 32.23%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

    About Alphabet

    (Free Report)

    Alphabet Inc offers various products and platforms in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia-Pacific, Canada, and Latin America. It operates through Google Services, Google Cloud, and Other Bets segments. The Google Services segment provides products and services, including ads, Android, Chrome, devices, Gmail, Google Drive, Google Maps, Google Photos, Google Play, Search, and YouTube.

    Recommended Stories

    Want to see what other hedge funds are holding GOOGL? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL – Free Report).

    Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL)



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  • Disney content has gone dark on YouTube TV. Here’s what customers should know

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    NEW YORK (AP) — Disney content has gone dark on YouTube TV, leaving subscribers of the Google-owned live streaming platform without access to major networks like ESPN and ABC.

    That’s because the companies have failed to reach a new licensing deal to keep Disney channels on YouTube TV. Depending on how long it lasts, the dispute could particularly impact coverage of U.S. college football matchups over the weekend — as well as NBA and NFL games — on top of other news and entertainment disruptions that have already arrived.

    In the meantime, YouTube TV subscribers who want to watch Disney channels could have little choice other than turning to traditional broadcasting or the company’s own platforms — which come with their own price tags.

    Here’s what we know.

    Why is Disney content not on YouTube TV today?

    Disney content was pulled from YouTube TV after a carriage agreement expired on Thursday. The two sides have been unable to reach a new deal to continue licensing Disney channels on the platform — resulting in the current blackout.

    YouTube TV says that Disney is proposing terms that would be too costly, resulting in higher prices and fewer choices for its subscribers. Google’s streamer has accused Disney of following through on “the threat of a blackout on YouTube TV as a negotiating tactic” — and claims that the move also benefits Disney’s own streaming products like Hulu + Live TV and Fubo.

    Meanwhile, Disney says that YouTube TV has refused to pay fair rates of its channels — and is therefore choosing “to deny their subscribers the content they value most.” The California entertainment giant also accused Google of “using its market dominance to eliminate competition and undercut the industry-standard terms we’ve successfully negotiated with every other distributor.”

    In a Friday note to employees, Disney Entertainment Co-Chairs Dana Walden and Alan Bergman and ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro added that YouTube TV pulled Disney content Thursday night “prior to the midnight expiration of our deal” — and noted the platform also deleted subscribers’ previously-recorded programming. The Associated Press reached out to Google for further comment.

    What channels are impacted?

    ESPN and ABC are among the biggest networks that YouTube TV subscribers can no longer access amid the dispute.

    And beyond those top sports and news offerings, other Disney-owned content that is now dark on the platform include channels specific to U.S. college athletic regions, like the Atlantic Coast Conference and the Southeastern Conference. NatGeo and FX are also impacted.

    Here’s a recap of the full list outlined by YouTube TV:

      1. ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNews and ESPN Deportes (Spanish Plan)

      2. ABC and ABC News Live

      3. Nat Geo, Nat Geo Wild and Nat Geo Mundo (Spanish Plan)

      4. Disney Channel, Disney Junior and Disney XD

      5. FX, FXX and FXM

      6. SEC Network and ACC Network

      7. Freeform

      8. Localish

      9. Baby TV Español (Spanish Plan)

    Google says that streamer adds-ons like 4K Plus and Spanish Plus are also affected.

    Where else can I watch ESPN and ABC?

    Consumers can continue to watch Disney’s sports programming on the company’s own ESPN offerings — but it will come with an additional cost. For streaming, the network launched its own platform earlier this year under the same ESPN name, starting at $29.99 a month.

    Other Disney content can be found on platforms like Hulu, Disney+ and Fubo. Again, those come with their own price tags. Disney also allows people to bundle ESPN along with Hulu and Disney+ for $35.99 a month — or $29.99 a month for the first year.

    Disney also directed customers to a website called KeepMyNetworks.com to explore other options, which includes more traditional broadcast services.

    But if you’re a YouTube TV subscriber and don’t have these streaming subscriptions or broadcast offerings, you might be left without access to this Disney content as long as the impasse lasts. YouTube TV said it would give subscribers a $20 credit if Disney content unavailable “for an extended period of time.”

    YouTube TV’s base subscription plan costs $82.99 per month. Beyond Disney content, the platform currently offers live TV from networks like NBC, CBS, Fox, BBC, PBS, Hallmark, Food Network and more.

    How long could the dispute last?

    YouTube TV and Disney have acknowledged that the disruption is frustrating — and both maintain that they’re still committed to finding a resolution. But only time will tell.

    The current blackout marks the latest in growing list of licensing disputes that impact consumers’ access to content.

    From sports events to awards shows, live programming that was once reserved for broadcast has increasingly made its way into the streaming world over the years — as more and more consumers ditch traditional cable or satellite TV subscriptions for content they can get online. But renewing carriage agreements can also mean tense contract negotiations, particularly amid growing competition in the space.

    YouTube TV and Disney have been down this road before. In 2021, YouTube TV subscribers also briefly lost access to all Disney content on the platform after a similar contract breakdown between the two companies. That outage lasted less than two days, with the companies eventually reaching an agreement.

    Some past impasses have been shorter and limited to a matter of hours — or found a way to temporarily ward of disruptions at the last minute. In August, for example, YouTube TV reached a “short-term extension” in its contract dispute with Fox, and the two later reached a new licensing deal.

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  • Disney pulls ABC, ESPN and more from YouTube TV as talks break down

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    YouTube TV viewers can no longer see Disney channels including ABC and ESPN after the two sides failed to agree on a new content distribution deal.

    Other channels that vanished from Google’s pay TV platform include the Disney Channel, FX and Nat Geo.

    Google’s pay TV platform said in a blog post late Thursday that Disney had followed through on a threat to suspend its content amid the negotiations.

    The breakdown could impact coverage of some college football games on Saturday, as well as NBA, NFL and NHL games.

    YouTube is the largest internet TV provider in the U.S. with more than 9 million subscribers. Hulu, owned by Disney, is next, with about half that many subscribers.

    Viewers have become aware of the dispute in recent weeks because of warnings being scrolled across their screens.

    YouTube said Disney used the threat of a blackout as a negotiating tactic that would have resulted in higher prices for its subscribers. Disney’s move to take down its content also benefits its own streaming products Hulu + Live TV and Fubo, YouTube said.

    “We know this is a frustrating and disappointing outcome for our subscribers and we continue to urge Disney to work with us constructively to reach a fair agreement that restores their networks to YouTube TV,” it said.

    YouTube said it would give subscribers a $20 credit if Disney content unavailable “for an extended period of time.” YouTube TV’s base subscription plan costs $82.99 per month.

    Disney said that YouTube TV is refusing to pay fair rates for its channels and has chosen to “deny their subscribers the content they value most,” pointing out the number of Top 25 teams playing this weekend.

    “With a $3 trillion market cap, Google is using its market dominance to eliminate competition and undercut the industry-standard terms we’ve successfully negotiated with every other distributor,” Disney said. The company said that it was committed to reaching a resolution as quickly as possible.

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  • Apple delivers strong quarter despite trade war challenges and ongoing artificial technology issues

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    SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Apple delivered financial results during its summertime quarter that exceeded analyst projections, despite being caught in the crosshairs of a global trade war at the same time the trendsetting company is scrambling to catch up to its Big Tech peers in the artificial intelligence race.

    The performance announced Thursday was driven largely by strong initial demand for its iPhone 17 lineup that went on sale last month.

    Although the iPhone 17 lacks the AI wizardry featured in rival devices recently introduced by Samsung and Google, Apple spruced up its latest models with a redesign highlighted by a sleek “liquid glass” appearance on the display screens.

    Apple also largely maintained its pricing on its latest iPhones, despite being squeezed by the tariffs that President Donald Trump has imposed on the U.S. devices that the company mostly makes in India and China. The tariffs cost Apple $1.1 billion during the past quarter and are expected to cost another $1.4 billion during the final three months of the year.

    The formula apparently was enough to win over consumers, particularly in the United States and Europe, helping to produce iPhone sales totaling $49 billion during the July-September period, a 6% increase from the same time last year. That was slightly below the 8% jump in iPhone sales that had been anticipated by analysts, and less than the 13% bump in sales during the April-June period.

    IDC estimates that 58.6 million iPhones were sold worldwide in the July-September quarter, putting Apple second behind Samsung at 61.4 million of their Android-powered phones sold worldwide in the quarter.

    Buoyed by the iPhone results, Apple earned $27.5 billion, or $1.85 per share, nearly doubling its profit from a year ago. Revenue climbed 8% from a year ago to $102.5 billion. Both the earnings and revenue eclipsed the analyst forecasts that steer the stock market.

    Apple shares surged 3% in extended trading after the numbers came out.

    In a conference call with analysts, Apple CEO Tim Cook indicated his belief that the iPhone 17 lineup will continue to do well, predicting even more of the devices will be sold during the final three months of the year. “As we head into the holiday season with our most powerful lineup ever, I couldn’t be more excited for what’s to come,” Cook said. He cited the iPhone 17’s popularity in most parts of the world except China, where sales of the device dipped by 4% from a year ago.

    The Cupertino, California, company expects its iPhone sales to increase at least 10% from last year’s holiday season, according to projections provided by Apple’s chief financial officer, Kevan Parekh. Total revenue is expected to rise at a similar rate.

    Apple’s stock has been on a tear since a report earlier this month from the research firm International Data Corp. telegraphed the quarterly results with a preliminary analysis that concluded the company had set a new July-September record for iPhone sales. The rally catapulted Apple’s market value above $4 trillion for the first time earlier this week and now the stage is set for the shares to hit another new high during Friday’s regular trading session.

    But Apple has been widely seen as a laggard in the AI craze, one of the reasons that Nvidia — a chipmaker whose processors power the technology — became the first company to be valued at $5 trillion earlier this week.

    Apple had promised a wide array of AI features would be rolling out on last year’s iPhone models, but was only able to deliver a few of them. The missing upgrades included a smarter and more versatile version of its frequently flummoxed Siri virtual assistant – a makeover that Apple now doesn’t expect to complete until next year.

    But Apple has a long history of late starts when technology starts to head in another direction before it finally catches up and emerges as a front-runner.

    If Apple can pull it off again by eventually implanting more AI features on the iPhone, Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives believes those breakthroughs could boost the company’s market share by another $1 trillion to $1.5 trillion, translating into $75 to $100 per share.

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  • CEO Shishir Mehrotra on Grammarly’s New Chapter as Superhuman: Interview

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    Shishir Mehrotra has been CEO of Grammarly, now Superhuman, since January. Raymond Rudolph/Courtesy Grammarly

    Shishir Mehrotra, who became CEO of Grammarly at the beginning of 2025, isn’t just updating the company’s A.I. writing tools—he’s rebranding the entire company. From now on, Grammarly will be known as Superhuman, a name that Mehrotra says better reflects its expanding suite of products and mission to empower users.

    “It was very important for the company to have a broader name because we cover so much more ground than we used to,” Mehrotra told Observer. “We wanted to be able to expand our offerings over time and still have it fit.”

    If you’re attached to the name Grammarly, don’t fret. The company’s popular writing assistant will retain its title as one of several products under the new Superhuman umbrella. Other offerings include Coda, the collaboration platform founded by Mehrotra and acquired by Grammarly last year, and Superhuman Mail, an A.I.-powered email platform it purchased in June.

    The Superhuman suite will also add a new product: Superhuman Go, an A.I. assistant capable of connecting to more than 100 apps to work across users’ documents, emails, meeting transcripts and chat threads. The tool will launch with dozens of A.I. agents designed to provide writing support and pull in real-time information from other tools. Some agents are being developed in partnership with experts, including author Kim Scott, who helped launch a “Radical Candor” agent that will help users communicate both directly and kindly.

    Mehrotra likened Grammarly’s transformation to other major tech rebrands, such as Google’s restructuring under Alphabet and Facebook’s pivot to Meta. “There’s been enough cases of that being done in a way that preserved the core brand,” he said.

    Image of web browser open to email set against purple background with 'Superhuman' written aboveImage of web browser open to email set against purple background with 'Superhuman' written above
    The company’s rebrand includes a new suite of A.I. agents. Courtesy Superhuman

    A Superhuman approach to A.I. 

    Founded in 2009, Grammarly has long used A.I. to power its grammar checking and writing assistance tools. More recently, the company has accelerated its A.I. development, adding features like A.I.-enabled citation finders, multilingual writing tools and plagiarism detection.

    Unlike some A.I.-driven productivity platforms, Mehrotra said Superhuman’s tools are designed to enhance human work, not replace it. “We assist you in many different ways, but at the end of the day, you actually publish the article, you post the blog, you submit the essay,” he said. “We’re continuing that with all of our products.”

    Superhuman Go is already gaining traction in education. Arizona State University announced today (Oct. 30) that it will deploy the A.I. assistant to help address tool fragmentation and improve student support. Though the university had already implemented various A.I. tools, Mehrotra said it chose Superhuman to unify those systems and make them easier for students and faculty to use.

    Such partnerships, he added, highlight Superhuman’s goal of integrating A.I. seamlessly into daily life. “Most A.I. tools are focused on becoming destinations—you go to them, that’s how you experience your A.I.-based productivity,” said Mehrotra. “We bring A.I. to you, and we think that’s pretty different.”

    CEO Shishir Mehrotra on Grammarly’s New Chapter as Superhuman: Interview

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    Alexandra Tremayne-Pengelly

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  • Meta stock falls over 10% after commitment to raise AI spending

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    Microsoft, Meta and Alphabet recently reported their quarterly earnings and one thing is certain: the jaw-dropping investments in artificial intelligence are only just getting started. This all comes just days after Nvidia became the world’s first-ever $5 trillion company. Jacob Ward, technology journalist, joins CBS News to discuss.

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  • Mixed share reaction to megacap earnings burst, Meta droops

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    (Reuters) -Shares in three of the “Magnificent Seven” companies with significant investments in artificial intelligence were mixed in after-hours trade on Wednesday after the mega caps released third quarter earnings.

    Shares in Google-parent Alphabet rose 6.2% after the company beat Wall Street estimates for third-quarter revenue on Wednesday, as both its core advertising business and cloud computing unit showed steady growth.

    The cloud services and AI giant raised its capital expenditure forecast for the year to between $91 billion and $93 billion, compared with the estimates of $80.67 billion.

    But Microsoft fell 3.4% in extended trading even though the company reported blockbuster growth in its cloud-computing business that pushed its quarterly revenue past Wall Street estimates, showing businesses are still splurging on AI services despite fears of a bubble.

    The results highlight the growing returns from Microsoft’s massive AI investments.

    Shares in Meta fell more than 8% after it said it recorded a nearly $16 billion one-time charge in the third quarter related to U.S. President Donald Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill, and said its capital expenditure next year would be “notably larger” than in 2025.

    Meta has been doubling down on AI, CEO Mark Zuckerberg has personally led an aggressive talent hiring spree and has said that the company would spend hundreds of billions of dollars to build several massive AI data centers for superintelligence.

    COMMENTS:

    MICHAEL ASHLEY SCHULMAN, CHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER, RUNNING POINT CAPITAL, LOS ANGELES

    “From a market perspective the earnings wave says the AI investments are being somewhat vindicated; they’re not wild hype anymore, but not fully matured either. From a geopolitical angle the tech sector isn’t just about widgets, it’s now about data wars, platform power, regulatory maneuvers, and global supply chain guts. And the investor in me says great results, but buckle up, because the real test is converting those massive outlays into steady predictable returns. AI is both overhyped and under penetrated, simultaneously a bubble and a base case depending on your time horizon. Machine as narrative velocity moves prices faster than cash flows can catch up, and the market algorithm rewards engagement over fundamentals. For boring detail: In aggregate the trio basically told us the artificial intelligence land grab is real and the shovels are very expensive, with Alphabet clearing the $100 billion quarter while lifting capital expenditures to feed cloud and search, Meta posting record sales but face-planting on a nearly sixteen billion dollar tax charge as it leans into a $70 to $72 billion build out, and Microsoft reaffirming that the enterprise cloud is the toll road of artificial intelligence with a fresh revenue beat and rapid Azure growth. Nonetheless, for all the good news out there, parts of the market are behaving more like a social network than a discounting machine as narrative velocity moves prices faster than cash flows can catch up, and the market algorithm rewards engagement over fundamentals.”

    STEVE SOSNICK, CHIEF STRATEGIST, INTERACTIVE BROKERS, GREENWICH, CONNECTICUT

    “From a broad market point of view, they’re sort of a push (not an index catalyst) because the good reaction in Alphabet is enough to offset the uninspiring outcome in Microsoft and the surprise tax loss at Meta. The reactions in Meta and Alphabet are currently greater than the implied volatility moves that were priced into weekly options, but not egregiously so, with Microsoft being a somewhat more subdued move.”

    BESPOKE INVESTMENT GROUP (emailed note)

    “Taken together, while these results weren’t all necessarily

    constructive for the stocks they show zero signal of a slowdown in the AI capex boom. Their combined capex rose $14bn QoQ or more than 22%, (the same pace as last quarter) and is up 88% YoY.”

    (Compiled by the Global Finance & Markets Breaking News team)

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  • Amazon cuts 14,000 corporate jobs as spending on artificial intelligence accelerates

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    Amazon will cut about 14,000 corporate jobs as the online retail giant ramps up spending on artificial intelligence while cutting costs elsewhere.

    Teams and individuals impacted by the job cuts will be notified on Tuesday. Most workers will be given 90 days to look for a new position internally, Beth Galetti, Senior Vice President of People Experience and Technology at Amazon, wrote in a letter to employees on Tuesday. Those who can’t find a new role at the company or who opt not to look for one will be provided transitional support including severance pay, outplacement services and health insurance benefits.

    Amazon has about 350,000 corporate employees and a total workforce of approximately 1.56 million. The cuts announced Tuesday amount to about a 4% reduction in its corporate workforce.

    In June CEO Andy Jassy, who has aggressively sought to cut costs since becoming CEO in 2021, said that he anticipated generative AI would reduce Amazon’s corporate workforce in the next few years.

    Jassy said at the time that Amazon had more than 1,000 generative AI services and applications in progress or built, but that figure was a “small fraction” of what it plans to build.

    Amazon has announced plans to invest $10 billion building a campus in North Carolina to expand its cloud computing and artificial intelligence infrastructure.

    Since 2024 started, Amazon has committed to about $10 billion apiece to data center projects in Mississippi, Indiana, Ohio and North Carolina as it builds up its infrastructure to try to keep up with other tech giants making leaps in AI. Amazon is competing with OpenAI, Google, Microsoft, Meta and others. In a conference call with industry analysts in May, Jassy said that the potential for growth in the company’s AWS business is massive.

    “If you believe your mission is to make customers’ lives easier and better every day, and you believe that every customer experience will be reinvented with AI, you’re going to invest very aggressively in AI, and that’s what we’re doing. You can see that in the 1,000-plus AI applications we’re building across Amazon. You can see that with our next generation of Alexa, named Alexa+,” he said.

    Amazon’s workforce doubled during the pandemic as millions stayed home and boosted online spending. In the following years, big tech and retail companies cut thousands of jobs to bring spending back in line.

    The cuts announced Tuesday suggests Amazon is still trying to get the size of its workforce right and it may not be over. It was the biggest culling at Amazon since 2023, when the company cut 27,000 jobs. Those cuts came in waves, with 9,000 jobs trimmed in March of that year, and another 18,000 employees two months later. Amazon has not said if more job cuts are on the way.

    Yet the jobs market which has for years been a pillar in the U.S. economy, is showing signs of weakening. Layoffs have been limited, but the same can be said for hiring.

    Government hiring data is on hold during the government shut down, but earlier this month a survey by payroll company ADP showed a surprising loss of 32,000 jobs losses in the private sector in September.

    Many retailers are pulling back on seasonal hiring this year due to uncertainty over the U.S. economy and tariffs. Amazon Inc. said this month, however, that it would hire 250,000 seasonal workers, the same as last year’s holiday season.

    Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData, said in a statement that the layoffs “represent a deep cleaning of Amazon’s corporate workforce.”

    “Unlike the Target layoffs, Amazon is operating from a position of strength,” he said. “The company has been producing good growth, and it still has a lot of headroom for further expansion in both the U.S. and overseas.”

    But Saunders noted that Amazon is not immune to outside factors, as global markets tighten and underlying costs climb.

    “It needs to act if it wants to continue with a good bottom-line performance. This is especially so given the amount of investment the company is making in areas like logistics and AI. In some ways, this is a tipping point away from human capital to technological infrastructure,” he said.

    Amazon will post quarterly financial results on Thursday. During its most recent quarter, the company reported 17.5% growth for its cloud computing arm Amazon Web Services.

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  • Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL is Yousif Capital Management LLC’s 7th Largest Position

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    Yousif Capital Management LLC decreased its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL – Free Report) by 0.9% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 715,796 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 6,281 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises approximately 1.4% of Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $126,145,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

    Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 509,826,331 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $78,839,544,000 after purchasing an additional 14,307,345 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 11.4% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 43,865,520 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,783,364,000 after purchasing an additional 4,473,901 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.4% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 43,648,514 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,749,806,000 after purchasing an additional 593,345 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.9% during the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 39,792,300 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,153,481,000 after purchasing an additional 727,335 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 38,556,577 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,962,389,000 after purchasing an additional 104,859 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

    Insiders Place Their Bets

    In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.05, for a total value of $694,638.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 14,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,629,725.80. This trade represents a 16.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 103 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.13, for a total value of $25,042.39. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 17,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,202,258.92. The trade was a 0.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 246,150 shares of company stock worth $55,805,379. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

    Alphabet Price Performance

    NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $253.08 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.06 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.95, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.00. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $140.53 and a 1 year high of $257.33. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $235.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $194.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90.

    Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.60 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%. Equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

    Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

    Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Alphabet from $220.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. Melius Research increased their target price on Alphabet from $220.00 to $255.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Alphabet from $230.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Roth Capital increased their target price on Alphabet from $210.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Citizens Jmp increased their price target on Alphabet from $250.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $259.12.

    View Our Latest Stock Report on GOOGL

    Alphabet Company Profile

    (Free Report)

    Alphabet Inc offers various products and platforms in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia-Pacific, Canada, and Latin America. It operates through Google Services, Google Cloud, and Other Bets segments. The Google Services segment provides products and services, including ads, Android, Chrome, devices, Gmail, Google Drive, Google Maps, Google Photos, Google Play, Search, and YouTube.

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    Want to see what other hedge funds are holding GOOGL? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL – Free Report).

    Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL)



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  • New York City Sues Social Media Companies Over ‘Youth Mental Health Crisis’

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    Here’s a new element of the East Coast vs. West Coast beef: The City of New York is reaching across the country to sue tech giants headquartered in California over allegations that their platforms have created a youth mental health crisis. The city, along with its school districts and health department, alleges that “gross negligence” on the part of Meta, Alphabet, Snap, and ByteDance has gotten kids hooked on social media, which has created a “public nuisance” that is placing a strain on the city’s resources.

    In a 327-page complaint filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, the city alleges that tech companies have designed their platforms in a way that seeks to “maximize the number of children” using them, and have built “algorithms that wield user data as a weapon against children and fuel the addiction machine.” The city also alleges that these companies “know children and adolescents are in a developmental stage that leaves them particularly vulnerable to the addictive effects of these features,” but “target them anyway, in pursuit of additional profit.”

    The claims that social media is addictive to underage users aren’t necessarily new. New York state, in fact, is part of a coalition of states that have sued social media companies for allegedly exploiting young users. But the New York City suit does bring some unique and jurisdiction-specific information. It cites data from the New York City Police Department, for instance, that show at least 16 teens have died while “subway surfing”—riding outside of a moving train—a dangerous behavior which the lawsuit claims has been encouraged by social media trends. Two girls, ages 12 and 13, died earlier this month while subway surfing.

    It also cited survey data collected from New York high school students, which shows that 77.3% of the city’s teens spend three or more hours per day on screens, which it claims has contributed to lost sleep and, in turn, absences from school—corroborated by the city’s school districts, which provided data to show that 36.2% of all public school students are considered chronically absent, missing at least 10% of the school year.

    According to Reuters, this lawsuit from New York City is part of a larger effort by other governments to hold social media firms accountable. There are more than 2,050 similar lawsuits in litigation. The city withdrew a previous lawsuit, announced by Mayor Eric Adams in 2024, to join this wider effort in federal court. By doing so, New York City immediately becomes one of the largest plaintiffs, with a population of 8.48 million and nearly two million residents under the age of 18.

    “These lawsuits fundamentally misunderstand how YouTube works, and the allegations are simply not true. YouTube is a streaming service where people come to watch everything from live sports, to podcasts to their favorite creators, primarily on TV screens, not a social network where people go to catch up with friends,” José Castañeda, a spokesperson for Google, told Gizmodo. “We’ve also developed dedicated tools like Supervised Experiences for young people, guided by child safety experts, that give families control.”

    Gizmodo reached out to Meta, Snap, and ByteDance for comment but did not receive a response at the time of publication.

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  • A Self-Driving Waymo Got Pulled Over by the Police. Then Things Got Confusing

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    Police in Northern California were understandably perplexed when they pulled over a Waymo taxi after it made an illegal U-turn, only to find no driver behind the wheel and therefore, no one to ticket.

    The San Bruno Police Department wrote in now viral weekend social media posts that officers were conducting a DUI operation early Saturday morning when a self-driving Waymo made the illegal turn in front of them.

    Officers stopped the vehicle, but declined to write a ticket as their “citation books don’t have a box for ‘robot’.”

    “That’s right … no driver, no hands, no clue,” read the post, which was accompanied by photos of an officer peering into the car.

    Officers contacted Waymo to report what they called a “glitch,” and in the post, they said they hope reprogramming will deter more illegal moves.

    The department’s Facebook post has generated more than 500 comments, with many people outraged that police didn’t ticket the company. People also wanted to know how police got the car to pull over.

    But San Bruno Sgt. Scott Smithmatungol said they can only ticket a human driver or operator for a moving violation, unlike parking tickets that can be left with the vehicle.

    A new state law that kicks in next year will allow police to report moving violations to the Department of Motor Vehicles, which is figuring out the specifics, including potential penalties, the Los Angeles Times reports.

    Waymo spokesperson Julia Ilina told the LA Times that the company’s autonomous driving system is closely monitored by regulators. “We are looking into this situation and are committed to improving road safety through our ongoing learnings and experience,” Ilina said.

    Waymos currently operate in Phoenix, Los Angeles and San Francisco and in areas south of the city, including the suburb of San Bruno.

    “It blew up a lot bigger than we thought,” Smithmatungol said of the viral post to The Associated Press on Tuesday. “We’re not a large agency like San Francisco.”

    San Bruno has about 40,000 residents and a sworn police force of 50 officers, he said.

    Waymo is owned by Google’s parent company, Alphabet.

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  • Alphabet will pay $22 million to settle President Trump’s YouTube lawsuit

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    Alphabet President Donald Trump $22 million as part of a settlement in a class action lawsuit brought against the company over the suspension of various YouTube accounts following the January 6 riot at the US capital, as first reported by the . The suit includes other plaintiffs whose YouTube channels were banned that will split an additional $2.5 million in settlement payouts.

    Trump in 2021, alongside lawsuits against Twitter and Facebook over similar suspensions, claiming they infringed on his first amendment rights. Twitter, now known as X since its acquisition and rebrand by Elon Musk, paid President Trump roughly $10 million to settle that suit. Meta also with the president over his suspension from the platform for $25 million earlier this year.

    This settlement comes shortly after Alphabet to the House Judiciary Committee lambasting government pressure to moderate content on its platforms. The company also shared that YouTube would be offering a path to reinstatement for accounts previously banned for COVID-19 or election integrity related misinformation.

    The settlement from Alphabet will be paid to the Trust for the National Mall, a nonprofit partner of the National Park Service, and will be earmarked for construction of the that President Trump is building at The White House. The monies from the Meta settlement were similarly earmarked.

    This summer Paramount, parent company of CBS, brought by the president over claims that the network intended to “confuse, deceive and mislead the public” by editing an interview with Kamala Harris. The media company paid $16 million to settle the president’s suit. Three weeks later the the $8 billion acquisition of Paramount by Skydance.

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  • Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi Bets on Autonomous Cars to Revive Slowing EV Market

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    Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi says autonomous cars will act as a “catalyst” for EV adoption as Uber expands its global self-driving footprint. Photo by Riccardo Savi/Getty Images for Concordia Annual Summit

    The once-booming U.S. market for electric vehicles is slowing, but Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi isn’t fazed. Speaking today (Sept. 23) at the Concordia Summit in New York, he said Uber’s push into self-driving cars could act as a “catalyst” for EV adoption.

    Beyond safety and affordability, autonomous vehicles (AVs) offer another key advantage: sustainability. “The other really positive factor with AVs is that AVs are, by nature, also electric,” said Khosrowshahi, who pointed to Uber’s growing autonomous footprint in the U.S. as a way to help revive the country’s flailing EV transition.

    Uber, led by Khosrowshahi since 2017, currently offers AV rides in Austin, Atlanta and Phoenix through a partnership with Alphabet’s Waymo. Abroad, the company has teamed up with China-based WeRide to provide autonomous rides overseen by human safety drivers in Middle Eastern cities like Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

    That footprint is set to expand. Later this year, Uber plans to launch in Germany and unveil new projects across Asia, Khosrowshahi said, noting the company now works with about 20 AV partners worldwide. “Autonomous is happening now, and it’s expanding all over the world.”

    A supportive regulatory framework is crucial when selecting AV markets, according to Khosrowshahi, who emphasized that robot drivers are five times safer than humans. “They don’t get distracted, they’re not texting, and most of these AV models will have driven over 1,000 times the miles that you and I will ever drive,” he said.

    Launching in regions where Uber has a strong presence is another advantage. Adding AV services to an existing network makes operations more efficient and helps offset high costs—self-driving cars can run well over $100,000 each. “You want these vehicles as highly utilized as possible,” noted Khosrowshahi.

    Over time, AVs are expected to lower fares, which could fuel demand. To avoid worsening congestion, Khosrowshahi envisions a future dominated by shared autonomous rides carrying multiple passengers, which he called a “newer development” in the field. That’s why Uber has been investing in services like UberX Share, which lets riders split trips and costs, he said.

    While AVs have been in development for decades, advances in A.I. have pushed the technology into new territory. Earlier generations of self-driving cars were largely deterministic. With the advent of large language models, modern systems can now handle complex real-world driving by learning through observation in more human-like ways. After years of research, they are “finally ready for prime time,” Khosrowshahi said. “The rate of acceleration in terms of the development of the technology, the safety of the technology, is pretty extraordinary.”

    Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi Bets on Autonomous Cars to Revive Slowing EV Market

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  • YouTube may reinstate channels banned for spreading covid and election misinformation

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    Channels once banned by YouTube for spreading false information regarding the COVID-19 pandemic or the 2020 election may soon have the opportunity to get their channels back, in a decision transparently courting “conservative voices.”

    Alphabet, the parent company of Google and YouTube, has via counsel to the in which it alleges the company was pressured by the Biden administration to take down misinformation on YouTube related to the COVID-19 pandemic that did not violate the company’s existing policies at the time. It now describes the Biden administration’s actions as “unacceptable and wrong.”

    It also informed the committee that YouTube would be offering a path to reinstatement for creators whose channels were banned for repeatedly violating community guidelines on election-integrity-related content, as well as for COVID-19-related content. The guidelines under which those bans were carried out were removed by the company in 2023 and 2024, respectively. Details on exactly what the path for reinstatement looks like were not shared.

    “The COVID-19 pandemic was an unprecedented time in which online platforms had to reach decisions about how best to balance freedom of expression with responsibility,” the letter reads. “Senior Biden administration officials, including White House officials, conducted repeated and sustained outreach to Alphabet and pressed the company regarding user generated content related to the COVID-19 pandemic that did not violate its policies.”

    Alphabet goes on to denounce any government attempts to “dictate how the Company moderates content,” and says it will always “fight against those efforts on First Amendment grounds.”

    Notable YouTube channels banned for either COVID-19 or election-integrity-related content include , Co-Deputy Director of the FBI and the channel for , an organization previously linked with Secretary of HHS RFK Jr. “YouTube values conservative voices on its platform and recognizes that these creators have extensive reach and play an important role in civic discourse,” the company wrote. In its letter, Alphabet also expresses concern that the European Union’s could have a chilling effect on freedom of expression.

    The letter was sent in response to subpoenas as part of the House Judiciary Committee’s ongoing investigations into alleged government-directed content moderation. The committee recently on “Europe’s Threat to American Speech and Innovation,” among others.

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  • Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Acquired by Sunflower Bank N.A.

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    Sunflower Bank N.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL – Free Report) by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,517 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 353 shares during the period. Sunflower Bank N.A.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,501,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

    Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Sovran Advisors LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 32.0% during the second quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC now owns 17,978 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,135,000 after buying an additional 4,359 shares during the period. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 6.2% during the second quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC now owns 24,938 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,395,000 after buying an additional 1,450 shares during the period. Jackson Square Capital LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 38.9% during the second quarter. Jackson Square Capital LLC now owns 52,494 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $9,251,000 after buying an additional 14,704 shares during the period. Lake Hills Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the second quarter worth approximately $562,000. Finally, Intelligence Driven Advisers LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 11.1% during the second quarter. Intelligence Driven Advisers LLC now owns 2,656 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $468,000 after buying an additional 265 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

    Alphabet Stock Up 1.1%

    Alphabet stock opened at $254.72 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $140.53 and a 1-year high of $256.00. The company has a market cap of $3.08 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.01. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $209.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $180.31.

    Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.16. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%.The firm had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.60 billion. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

    Alphabet Dividend Announcement

    The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 8th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 8.95%.

    Analysts Set New Price Targets

    Several research analysts have commented on GOOGL shares. BNP Paribas lowered Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Alphabet from $220.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on Alphabet from $225.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 15th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have issued a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $225.54.

    Read Our Latest Stock Report on GOOGL

    Insider Activity at Alphabet

    In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total transaction of $680,610.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 17,293 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,236,785. The trade was a 13.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.44, for a total value of $149,664.00. Following the sale, the director owned 5,716 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,425,799.04. The trade was a 9.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 258,088 shares of company stock valued at $52,405,304 in the last 90 days. 11.64% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

    About Alphabet

    (Free Report)

    Alphabet Inc offers various products and platforms in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia-Pacific, Canada, and Latin America. It operates through Google Services, Google Cloud, and Other Bets segments. The Google Services segment provides products and services, including ads, Android, Chrome, devices, Gmail, Google Drive, Google Maps, Google Photos, Google Play, Search, and YouTube.

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    Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL)



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  • With no DOJ breakup, Alphabet becomes a $3 trillion company  | TechCrunch

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    Alphabet hit just over $3 trillion dollars in market cap on Monday as investors continue to reward it after a federal judge declined to break the company up.  

    On Sept. 2, U.S. District Court Judge Amit P. Mehta outlined softer-than-feared remedies for his year-ago ruling that Google maintained an illegal monopoly in search. The DOJ had proposed stronger remedies, including that Alphabet-owned Google be forced to sell Chrome. Tech companies like Perplexity and Ecosia lined up with unsolicited bids. But that possibility has been nixed. 

    Beyond Google’s cash cow of search, its cloud computing business is also growing rapidly on the strength of its AI offerings. Alphabet now joins Nvidia ($4.3T), Microsoft ($3.8T) and Apple ($3.5T) in the three-t club with Amazon next up but a lap behind ($2.5T). 

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  • Google Parent Alphabet Reaches $3T Market Cap | Entrepreneur

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    Google’s parent company, Alphabet, is now worth $3 trillion, a feat only achieved by three other tech giants: Nvidia, Microsoft, and Apple.

    Alphabet shares gained more than 4% in value on Monday, allowing the company to achieve a historic market capitalization of $3.03 trillion at the time of writing. Market capitalization measures the total value of a company by multiplying its share price by the number of outstanding shares.

    Alphabet hit the $3 trillion mark just over two decades after Google first went public in 2004, and more than 10 years after its own creation as Google’s parent company.

    Related: Amazon Is the Fifth Company in History to Join the Coveted $2 Trillion Tech Club

    Alphabet’s market cap has grown tremendously, more than 70%, from a low of $1.8 trillion in April. The recent surge value is partially due to an antitrust ruling earlier this month in the case Department of Justice (DOJ) v. Google, which resulted in lighter penalties than initially suggested by the DOJ. The ruling caused Alphabet shares to rise by over 20% over the past month.

    Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images

    In the week following the ruling, Alphabet gained $234 billion in market cap. The company’s stock is up more than 30% year-to-date. For context, the Nasdaq as a whole is up 15% for the year, per CNBC.

    Related: Google Reportedly Told Its Staff to Use AI More or Risk Falling Behind: ‘It Seems Like a No-Brainer’

    Wall Street generally views Alphabet stock favorably. More than 80% of Wall Street analysts recommend buying the stock as of Monday, per Bloomberg.

    Alphabet joins other tech giants that have made it into the $3 trillion club — and beyond. Apple achieved the $3 trillion milestone in June 2023, while Nvidia and Microsoft have taken it a step further by passing the $4 trillion mark.

    Nvidia achieved a $3 trillion market cap in June 2024 and later surpassed $4 trillion in early July, for a market cap of $4.3 trillion at the time of writing. Microsoft, meanwhile, hit the $3 trillion mark in January 2024 and passed the $4 trillion point in late July, though its market cap has dropped to $3.8 trillion at the time of writing.

    Alphabet’s focus in recent years has been on artificial intelligence, as the company strives to compete with Meta, OpenAI, and other key players in the AI race. While announcing its second-quarter earnings in July, Alphabet mentioned that it was increasing its AI expenditures from $75 billion to $85 billion amid growing demand for its cloud and AI services.

    “AI is positively impacting every part of the business, driving strong momentum,” Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai stated in the earnings report.

    Related: This Is How Senior Leaders Are Using AI at Work, According to a Google Survey

    Google’s parent company, Alphabet, is now worth $3 trillion, a feat only achieved by three other tech giants: Nvidia, Microsoft, and Apple.

    Alphabet shares gained more than 4% in value on Monday, allowing the company to achieve a historic market capitalization of $3.03 trillion at the time of writing. Market capitalization measures the total value of a company by multiplying its share price by the number of outstanding shares.

    Alphabet hit the $3 trillion mark just over two decades after Google first went public in 2004, and more than 10 years after its own creation as Google’s parent company.

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  • Rolling Stone owner Penske Media sues Google over AI summaries | TechCrunch

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    Google faces a new lawsuit accusing the company of illegally using news publishers’ content to create AI summaries that damage their business.

    The lawsuit comes from Penske Media Corporation (PMC), which owns industry publications such as Rolling Stone, Billboard, Variety, Hollywood Reporter, Deadline, Vibe, and Artforum. While Penske’s suit is the first to target Google and its parent company Alphabet over showing AI-generated summaries in search, both publishers and authors have sued other AI companies over related copyright concerns. Google also is also facing an antitrust complaint over AI Overviews in Europe.

    “As a leading global publisher, we have a duty to protect PMC’s best-in-class journalists and award-winning journalism as a source of truth,” said Penske Media CEO Jay Penske in a statement. “Furthermore, we have a responsibility to proactively fight for the future of digital media and preserve its integrity — all of which is threatened by Google’s current actions.”

    Since launching its AI Overviews last year, Google has been criticized for threatening the business models of the same publishers it relies on to provide the content needed to create accurate AI summaries and answers.

    The new lawsuit goes farther by accusing Google of continuing to “wield its monopoly to coerce PMC into permitting Google to republish PMC’s content in AI Overviews” and to use that content to train its AI models.

    Google spokesperson José Castañeda said in a statement that AI Overviews make Google search “more helpful” and create “new opportunities for content to be discovered.”

    “Every day, Google sends billions of clicks to sites across the web, and AI Overviews send traffic to a greater diversity of sites,” Castañeda said. “We will defend against these meritless claims.”

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    The lawsuit argues that while Penske Media allows Google to crawl its websites in an “exchange of access for traffic” that is “the fundamental bargain that supports the production of content for the open commercial Web,” Google has recently “begun to tie its participation in this bargain to another transaction to which PMC and other publishers do not willingly consent.”

    “As a condition of indexing publisher content for search, Google now requires publishers to also supply that content for other uses that cannibalize or preempt search referrals,” the lawsuit claims, adding that the only way for Penske to opt out would be to remove itself from Google search entirely, which would be “devastating.”

    The lawsuit also claims that Penske has seen “significant declines in clicks from Google searches since Google started rolling out AI Overviews.” That means less ad revenue for the publisher, and it also threatens subscription and affiliate revenue, the company says: “These revenue streams rely on people actually visiting PMC sites.”

    And while Google has pushed back against complaints that AI Overviews reduce traffic to publishers, the lawsuit says, “Google has offered no credible competing information regarding search referral traffic.”

    Penske’s suit comes after Google seemingly dodged an antitrust bullet — while a federal judge had ruled the company acted illegally to maintain a monopoly in online search, the judge did not to order the company to break up its businesses (for example by selling Chrome), due in part to an increasing competition in AI.

    This post has been updated with a statement from Jay Penske.

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  • Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Price Expected to Rise, DA Davidson Analyst Says

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    Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL – Get Free Report) had its target price lifted by DA Davidson from $180.00 to $190.00 in a research note issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the information services provider’s stock. DA Davidson’s target price points to a potential downside of 17.63% from the company’s current price.

    Several other equities analysts also recently commented on GOOGL. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Westpark Capital upped their target price on Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Roth Capital upped their target price on Alphabet from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Alphabet from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on Alphabet from $210.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have issued a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $219.11.

    View Our Latest Stock Analysis on GOOGL

    Alphabet Stock Performance

    Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $230.66 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $193.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $174.80. The company has a market capitalization of $2.79 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Alphabet has a 52 week low of $140.53 and a 52 week high of $231.31.

    Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.60 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%. As a group, analysts expect that Alphabet will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

    Insider Buying and Selling

    In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction of $2,786,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 240,400 shares in the company, valued at $44,656,704. This represents a 5.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.79, for a total value of $122,274.00. Following the sale, the director owned 6,316 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,287,137.64. This trade represents a 8.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 222,210 shares of company stock valued at $41,742,155. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

    Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

    A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. American Trust lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 18.2% during the 2nd quarter. American Trust now owns 24,751 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,362,000 after purchasing an additional 3,810 shares during the last quarter. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the second quarter valued at about $135,000. Lavaca Capital LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 6.2% in the second quarter. Lavaca Capital LLC now owns 6,860 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,209,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Midwestern Financial LLC IA purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the second quarter valued at about $217,000. Finally, Tribridge Partners Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the second quarter valued at about $266,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

    About Alphabet

    (Get Free Report)

    Alphabet Inc offers various products and platforms in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia-Pacific, Canada, and Latin America. It operates through Google Services, Google Cloud, and Other Bets segments. The Google Services segment provides products and services, including ads, Android, Chrome, devices, Gmail, Google Drive, Google Maps, Google Photos, Google Play, Search, and YouTube.

    Read More

    Analyst Recommendations for Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL)



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  • Large Unusual Options Activity in Alphabet Options Shows the Stock Is Undervalued

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    Alphabet (Google) Image by Piotr Swat via Shutterstock

    Positive news from a judge who is allowing Alphabet, Inc. (GOOG, GOOGL) to keep Chrome has spurred large, unusual options activity in GOOG and GOOGL put options. This highlights how undervalued GOOG and GOOGL shares are today.

    GOOG is at $229.86, up over 8.43% today after a U.S. District judge ruled against a breakup of Alphabet, including not having to divest its Chrome division, according to CNBC. GOOGL stock is also up 8.49% to $229.30.

    GOOG stock - last 3 months - Barchart - Sept. 3
    GOOG stock – last 3 months – Barchart – Sept. 3

    A Barchart report showed this heavy options activity. Today’s Barchart Unusual Stock Options Activity Report shows that 25,745 put option contracts have traded in out-of-the-money (OTM) put options in GOOG stock.

    It also shows other OTM puts in GOOGL shares have had unusual volume (see table below).

    GOOG and GOOGL puts expiring Sept 5 - Barchart Unusual Stock Options Activity Report - Sept. 3
    GOOG and GOOGL puts expiring Sept 5 – Barchart Unusual Stock Options Activity Report – Sept. 3

    In both cases, the out-of-the-money puts are for expiration on Friday, Sept. 5. The heavy volume indicates that the buyers expect the Alphabet shares to retract from today’s surge.

    However, those shorting these puts are essentially willing to buy shares at the OTM strike prices. They are also getting paid good yields.

    For example, the GOOGL puts at the $225.50 strike price have a $1.02 last premium price. That means short-sellers of these puts are making an immediate yield of 0.453% (i.e., $1.02/$225.00) for just 3 days left until expiration.

    It this could be repeated each week for a month, the expected return is a 1.813% monthly yield. That is a very good expected return in this stock.

    Moreover, the investor’s breakeven point, assuming GOOGL falls to $225.00 by close on Friday, is $223.98 ($225-1.02), or -2.3% below today’s price.

    Similarly, the GOOG put options at the $222.50 strike have a 0.2337% 3-day yield (i.e., $0.52/$222.50), or an expected return of 0.935% monthly yield.

    The point is that these investors feel strongly that GOOG and GOOGL shares may be undervalued here. Let’s look at why.

    Alphabet posted higher +14% revenue increase in Q2 year-over-year (Y/Y) with +19% higher net income and +22% Y/Y higher earnings per share.

    However, its free cash flow (FCF) was lower, mainly due to significantly higher capex spending. This was due to its huge investments in AI-focused activities throughout its product line.

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