Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL) 02 (Aug 17 - Dec 25)

[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

[winston]

not vested

Alphabet (GOOG) is down more than 12% since Oct. 1, as its ad revenue growth has slowed, in addition to facing more competition for ad dollars from Amazon. They are also facing headwinds in their cloud business from MSFT gaining market share.

GOOG is caught up in this silly acronym and it gets punished along with Facebook headlines that are specific only to FB. GOOG stock also suffers when Netflix's valuation comes into question.

So this is a clear case of a sentiment crisis in the Google stock price and not its business prospects. Unfortunately, in early October, GOOG needed to hold the $1130 zone but it didn't. Its failure brought in momentum sellers for another 10% dip. And when you look at its year-to-date gains, it is still in the red.

Luckily, this strengthens the fundamental argument for Google stock. GOOG's forward price-to-earnings ratio is now 24 ...

Those who have held on to GOOG stock this long would be making a mistake in selling it now. All the reasons for owning it a few months ago still exist, as nothing in the macro economy changed to materially affect its fundamentals.

Despite the headline fears, investors who buy for the long term will recognize the value that is building in Google stock as its price falls. They all have an entry level in mind and all they need are a few days without new headline risk.

Source: Investor Place

[winston]

not vested

Stock Picks for 2019: Alphabet (GOOGL)

Google Stock Is a Great Long-Term Investment, but Wait to Buy

Tech stocks may be going through a rough patch, but here’s one mega cap Goldman Sachs thinks is still worth buying for 2019.

Trading at ~11x 2019 EV/EBITDA, Alphabet Inc’s (NASDAQ:GOOGL) valuation looks compelling, says Brent Thill (Track Record & Ratings) of Jefferies.

He picks GOOGL as his Franchise Pick i.e. a high conviction stock. This is with a juicy $1,450 price target (37% upside potential).

So what justifies this bullish call?

“The Internet Team remains bullish on Alphabet due to continued expected mobile search growth and a positive stance on YouTube” explains Thill.

Online video is lining up as the biggest online ad growth driver — with GOOGL’s YouTube capable of driving meaningful upside by stealing ad budgets away from television.

Meanwhile, “mobile search has been the number one driver of revenue growth for the past several quarters and the team sees continued opportunity given the ubiquity of smartphones and the important location and contextual signals from mobile devices” writes Thill.

Plus, Alphabet also boasts its fast-growing Google Cloud, and a strong leadership position in both AI and autonomous vehicles. Its Waymo vehicles have driven many millions of miles on public roads more than peers.

Taking a step back, we can see that out of 31 analysts polled recently, 28 are bullish on the stock. This is with a $1,346 average price target (28% upside potential).

Source: Investor Place

[winston]

not vested

Stocks With the Strongest Balance Sheets: Alphabet (GOOGL)

When investors think of Alphabet, they think of its great assets. Things like YouTube.com and Google.com, along with its Waymo, cloud and advertising divisions.

They also think of the company’s great growth prospects, with analysts forecasting revenue growth of 23% this year and 19% next year.

GOOGL stock currently trades at 23 times forward estimates, which call for $41.75 per share. That’s up almost 30% from fiscal 2017.

Alphabet has more than $106 billion in cash and short-term investments and total long-term debt of just $3.9 billion.

In other words, GOOGL could pay that amount off in a snap and still have more than $100 billion locked away in its vault. The figure is notable given Alphabet’s $750 billion market cap.

Generating more than $21 billion in free cash flow over the last twelve months and with operating margins of roughly 20%, Alphabet has a robust and profitable business.

Source: Investor Place