Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL)

[winston]

not vested

The European Union is set to announce a record fine of 4.3 billion euros ($5 billion) for Google over apps for Android mobile devices.

The antitrust penalty would bring the running total of EU charges imposed on the company to 6.7 billion euros.

Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager is due to give a press conference at 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time announcing the decision.

Source: Bloomberg

[winston]

not vested

#5. Alphabet
Price target: $1,350
Upside potential: 14%

Analyst commentary: "Positives include secular shift of offline to online marketing, dominant positions in search, video, and display ad industries, as well as "call-option" potential on GCP and other bets;

We do not see any specific catalysts to point to in the near-term, so investors will have to rely on periodic upward estimate revisions to drive the stock."

TheStreet's quick take: Alphabet has had some problems in recent quarters expanding its profit margins amid investments in people and Waymo.

Here's what TheStreet's tech columnist Eric Jhonsa thinks investors need to focus on right now on Alphabet.
https://www.thestreet.com/investing/goo ... h-14657704

Source: The Street

[winston]

Google reported to launch censored search engine in China, marking shift in strategy

The US internet giant’s modified search app will blacklist sites on human rights, democracy, religion and other issues deemed sensitive by the Chinese government

Baidu currently has almost 70& market share.

With a population of 1.4 billion people, China is home to 772 million internet users, the biggest online community in the world.

Source: SCMP

https://www.scmp.com/tech/china-tech/ar ... king-shift

[winston]

vested in BIDU; not vested in GOOG

While pragmatist Pichai ploughs into China, Google workers fume over concession to censorship

Pichai’s new leadership style and priorities haven’t always sat well with the Google rank and file, who see the company as a defender of the open web

Even if Google were to launch search in China now, it’s unclear if people would use it. Since its departure, Baidu has come to dominate traditional search while many users have turned away from desktops in favour of using specific mobile apps.

That includes looking through Meituan-Dianping for food, Alibaba Group Holding's Taobao Marketplace and Tmall for e-commerce, Jinri Toutiao for news and Tencent Holdings' WeChat for most other things.

Source: SCMP

https://www.scmp.com/tech/article/21580 ... concession

[winston]

vested BIDU; not vested GOOG

Google could give Baidu a serious run for its money in China

Speculation on the US internet giant’s return has centred on its reported development of mobile search and news aggregation apps designed to meet China’s strict censorship laws

Google had some 14 per cent of China’s search traffic and 33 per cent revenue share before the company’s exit from the market in 2010.

Baidu’s search engine had 79 per cent of traffic and 63 per cent of search-related sales at that time.

China is now home to 753 mobile internet users, the biggest online community in the world.

Baidu, which offers search and a personalised news feed, had 148 million daily active users as of June 2018. About 80 per cent of its revenue comes from online marketing services, which includes advertising.

Source: SCMP

https://www.scmp.com/tech/china-tech/ar ... oney-china

[winston]

Google eyes China cloud tie-ups

Google is in talks with Tencent Holdings (0700), Inspur Group and other Chinese firms, to offer cloud services in the mainland,.

The talks began in early 2018 and Google narrowed candidates to three firms in late March but trade tensions between China and the United States now loom over the effort, sources said.

The goal is to run Google internet-based services - such as Drive and Docs - via the domestic data centers and servers of Chinese providers.

In most of the rest of the world, Google Cloud rents computing power and storage over the internet, and sells a collection of workplace productivity apps called G Suite that are run on its own data centers.

China requires digital information to be stored in the country and Google has no data centers in the mainland, so it needs local partnerships.

Source: BLOOMBERG

http://www.thestandard.com.hk/section-n ... 0806&sid=2

[winston]

not vested

FAANG Stocks: Alphabet (GOOGL)

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG, NASDAQ:GOOGL) shares got hit hard, dropping away from a triple-top resistance pattern near $1,275 to lose the 50-day moving average and close in on the 200-day average.

The $1,100 level also corresponds with the long multiyear uptrend supported by the 50-week moving average going back to 2015.

Google parent Alphabet was among the companies called to testify in front of Congress regarding election interference, but elected to “empty chair” the hearing by sending its top lawyer to provide written testimony.

The company will next report results on Oct. 22 after the close. Analysts are looking for earnings of $10.69 per share on revenues of $34 billion.

When the company last reported on July 23, earnings of $11.75 beat estimates by $2.05 on a 25.6% rise in revenues.

Source: Investor Place

[behappyalways]

Google discloses privacy security flaw kept quiet since March
https://www.theedgesingapore.com/google ... uiet-march

[winston]

not vested

Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL)

On the off chance you’re not aware, Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG, NASDAQ:GOOGL) is the parent company of search engine giant Google, which drives the vast majority of Alphabet’s revenue.

The search engine business isn’t what it used to be. Though web traffic has never been heavier, the prices per “click” continue to slide lower as they become more and more of a commodity.

Last quarter, the value of a click fell 28% year-over-year. The company makes up for it in sheer volume, however, with the total number of clicks up 62% a quarter ago.

The math works. The proof is in the long-term trend. Only once in the past 12 years has the company failed to report quarterly revenue growth. That streak isn’t apt to end anytime soon either, making the 20% pullback from GOOGL since July a buying opportunity.

Source: Investor Place

[winston]

A Closer Look at Alphabet Stock

Current estimates call for full-year earnings and revenue growth of ~30% and 23%, respectively. That's pretty impressive growth rates for a company sporting a market cap north of $725 billion.

While those expectations for 2019 slow to 12.5% earnings and 19.5% revenue growth, we still have to appreciate the rate in which Alphabet continues to grow its sales.

We also have to appreciate its assets.

Google.com and YouTube.com are the top two most popular websites in the world, while Alphabet has successfully rolled out new business segments.

For instance, its autonomous driving unit, Waymo, has fetched long-term valuations in excess of $150 billion from analysts.

Its cloud unit has quickly become one of the largest in the market and exhibiting impressive growth rates.

As Alphabet continues to make innovations in smart home products, smartphones, mobile search, cloud, autonomous driving, artificial intelligence and online video, its assets become more and more valuable.

It's important for technology companies to build on their legacy businesses, in order to fuel revenue growth. As they become more efficient over time, they can become more profitable, but Wall Street will continue to care about sales growth, nonetheless.

Thankfully for Alphabet, we're not talking about a profit-less, debt-ridden overvalued entity. In fact, the company is quite profitable and trades at a relatively healthy 25 times this year's earnings.

That may not seem all that reasonable to some investors, but for a blue-chip technology stock with 20% annual sales growth, I find it reasonable for long-term investors.

Further, while Alphabet may not have the balance sheet and cash flow power of Apple, it's no chump on its own. Alphabet has more than $106 billion in cash and short-term investments on its balance sheet, with just $3.9 billion in long-term debt.

Below $1,000 per share and the stock, technically speaking, may be in some trouble. But if that level holds, buyers won't regret nibbling some Alphabet stock on this decline.

Source: The Street

https://www.thestreet.com/investing/sto ... t-14789026