Analysts Remain Bullish on Alphabet Amid Search Concerns
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Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL) lost about $150 billion in market capitalization Wednesday amid worries it could lose ground to AI-powered search options. Morgan Stanley says it’s an opportunity to buy the stock.
“GOOGL sentiment has (again) troughed due to AI-disruption fears,” Morgan Stanley said, referencing an Apple (AAPL) executive’s comments that the iPhone maker is looking to add AI-powered search options to its Safari browser, and suggested they could eventually replace Google, which is currently Safari’s default search engine.
Morgan Stanley argued that competitors in the space such as OpenAI, Meta (META) and Perplexity “don’t yet have large enough user bases or compelling enough products” to drive customers away from Google.
Shares of Alphabet were up 2% at around $156 in recent trading Thursday, after plunging 7% a day earlier. Morgan Stanley maintained its price target of $185 and said it’s “time to buy” the stock.
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Jefferies analysts noted that Google’s Chrome holds a 66% browser share compared to Safari’s 17%. Google has also made its own progress in AI, with AI Overviews in Search reaching 1.5 billion monthly active users. “While we agree there are emerging alternatives to Google Search, GOOGL is not standing still,” the analysts said.
Jefferies reiterated its $200 target, calling yesterday’s sell-off “overdone.” JPMorgan and Citi affirmed their targets of $195 and $200, respectively.
Still, one serious risk to Google’s search dominance is antitrust enforcement. Last August, a federal judge agreed with Justice Department prosecutors that Google operated an illegal monopoly in the online search market. The Apple executive’s comments were part of testimony in a court proceeding Wednesday meant to find a remedy to that monopoly.
How Much Traders Expect Coinbase to Move After Earnings
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Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase (COIN) is slated to report quarterly results after the bell on Thursday. Investors are expecting a relatively modest response from its stock.
Coinbase stock is forecast to move about 6.5% in either direction on Friday, according to an analysis of options prices on Thursday morning. A move of that magnitude could put the stock to a two-month high of about $217.50 or down to around $191.
Over the last four quarters, Coinbase stock has seen an average post-earnings move of more than 9%. Shares slumped 8% after reporting fourth-quarter earnings in February and 15% following its third-quarter results in October. The last time Coinbase stock rose after earnings was a year ago, when the company said first-quarter revenue jumped as investors piled into newly approved spot Bitcoin ETFs.
Analysts are split in their assessments of Coinbase’s stock, with six of the 12 analysts tracked by Visible Alpha assigning shares a “buy” rating and the other six advising that investors hold.
The average price target for the stock is $262.42, implying upside of about 33%. Price targets range from $169 at Barclays to $400 at Canaccord and Citizens.
Coinbase shares were up more than 6% in recent trading as the price of bitcoin surpassed $100,000 for the first time since February. The stock has lost more than 15% of its value so far this year.
Crypto Stocks Jump as Bitcoin Surges Above $100K
1 hr 48 min ago
Crypto stocks got a jolt Thursday as the price of bitcoin climbed above $100,000 for the first time since early February.
Bitcoin was at $101,000 recently, up from an overnight low around $96,000, as investors welcomed news of a trade agreement between the U.S. and U.K. and the prospect of more deals. President Donald Trump said Thursday that “many other deals” are in “serious stages of negotiations,” and expressed optimism that progress would be made in talks between U.S. and Chinese officials over the weekend.
The latest developments on trade provided a boost to risk assets broadly, as U.S. stocks also surged. Investors have been looking for concrete signs of progress on trade talks amid concerns that the tariffs the Trump administration has proposed will cause economic growth to stall.
Shares of cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase (COIN) were up 6% in early-afternoon trading, while Strategy (MSTR), the Bitcoin buyer formerly known as MicroStrategy, added 7%. Bitcoin miners Riot Platforms (RIOT) and Mara Holdings (MARA) climbed 7% and 8%, respectively.
Bitcoin hit a record high of around $109,000 ahead of Trump’s inauguration in January amid optimism that the new administration would adopt policies to benefit the crypto industry. Trump has made efforts to be seen as a pro-crypto president, including signing an executive order in March that laid the groundwork for a strategic bitcoin reserve and a broader U.S. digital asset stockpile.
However, bitcoin stumbled in recent months, along with the U.S. stock market, as concerns about the potential impact of Trump’s trade policy weighed on risk appetite. With today’s rally, bitcoin has risen about 33% from its early-April low of $76,000.
Cleveland-Cliffs Stock Dives as Steelmaker Idles Some Plants
2 hr 57 min ago
Cleveland-Cliffs (CLF) shares tumbled Thursday, a day after the steelmaker announced it was cutting back on production and capital spending in an effort to improve operations.
The company said it will “fully or partially idle six facilities to optimize its footprint, reposition away from loss-making operations, and release excess working capital.” The moves are expected to save more than $300 million a year, with additional savings in overhead and improved productivity at its other factories.
In addition, Cleveland-Cliffs will no longer be investing in the development of a transformer production facility in Weirton, W.Va., “due to changes in scope from the project partner that no longer meet Cliffs’ investment requirements.”
CEO Lourenco Goncalves said that the company’s first-quarter results were hurt by “non-core assets and the lagging effect of lower index prices in late 2024 and early 2025.” Goncalves noted that the steps being taken are aimed at streamlining the business and enhancing efficiency.
In the quarter, Cleveland-Cliffs reported an adjusted net loss of $0.92, with revenue up 7% year-over-year to $4.63 billion. Analysts polled by Visible Alpha expected a net loss of $0.83 on revenue of $4.62 billion.
In January, CNBC reported that the company was teaming up with rival Nucor (NUE) for a potential bid for U.S. Steel (X), whose $14.1 billion buyout by Nippon Steel was blocked by President Joe Biden.
Cleveland-Cliffs shares were down 16% in recent trading. Including today’s sharp declines, shares of Cleveland-Cliffs have lost about a quarter of their value this year.
Anheuser-Busch Inbev Stock Hits 52-Week High
3 hr 49 min ago
U.S.-listed shares of Anheuser-Busch InBev (BUD) gained Thursday as the world’s biggest beer brewer easily beat earnings estimates as lower costs offset falling volumes.
The maker of brands including Budweiser and Michelob reported first-quarter net profit of $2.15 billion, nearly double what it was a year ago. Analysts surveyed by Visible Alpha were looking for $1.66 billion. Revenue rose 1.5% year-over-year to $13.63 billion, short of forecasts.
AB InBev’s selling, general, and administrative expenses (SG&A) decreased nearly 6% to $4.19 billion. The company pointed to disciplined resource allocation, overhead management, and optimization of capital expenditures for the decline.
Beer sales declined in the U.S., Europe, and China, but they gained in Latin America and South Africa. Total beer and non-beer volume dipped 2.2%, which the company blamed on “calendar-related factors such as cycling the leap year selling-day benefit in 1Q24 and Easter shipment phasing.”
CEO Michel Doukeris said that the consistent execution of AB InBev’s strategy “drove a solid start to the year and reinforces our confidence in delivering on our outlook for 2025.”
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AB Inbev stock was up 2% at $66.90 in recent trading, after hitting a 52-week high of $67.55 this morning.
Shopify Stock Sinks on Surprise Q1 Loss
4 hr 57 min ago
Shares of Shopify (SHOP) tumbled Thursday morning as the e-commerce platform reported a surprise net loss for the first quarter.
The company said $74.75 billion in gross merchandise value was sold through its platform in the quarter, about $150 million less than analysts had expected, per Visible Alpha. Shopify generated $2.36 billion in revenue, just above what analysts had expected.
Shopify’s adjusted earnings per share (EPS) came in at $0.25, a penny below the analyst consensus, but the company’s surprise net loss was likely more of an issue with investors. Analysts had expected EPS of $0.17, but Shopify reported a net loss of $0.53 per share as it incurred a more than $900 million loss on its equity investments.
Shopify projects second-quarter revenue to grow at a mid-twenties percentage rate year-over-year, while gross profit is expected to grow at a high-teens percentage.
Shopify shares were down 6% shortly after opening bell Thursday. The stock entered the day down 11% since the start of the year.
Watch These Alphabet Levels After Yesterday’s Slide
5 hr 17 min ago
Alphabet (GOOGL) shares moved higher in premarket trading after tumbling Wednesday following reports that Apple (AAPL) is looking to add AI-powered search options to its Safari browser, and that they could eventually replace standard search engines like Google’s.
The two tech giants have a longstanding partnership that sees Alphabet’s Google pay Apple an estimated $20 billion a year to make its search engine the default option on Safari in exchange for the iPhone maker receiving a cut of Google’s ad revenue through the browser. The news heightened concerns that AI is chipping away at Google’s bread-and-butter online search business.
Alphabet shares have slumped 20% since the start of the year through Wednesday’s close, in part over concerns that an economic slowdown could hit revenue as ad spending is reined in. The stock was up about 2% at around $156 shortly before the opening bell, after falling more than 7% yesterday.
Following an ominous death cross surfacing on the chart last month, Alphabet shares staged a countertrend rally to form a rising wedge, a bearish pattern that indicates a continuation of the stock’s move lower.
Indeed, that move looks to have started in Wednesday’s trading session, with the price breaking down below the pattern’s lower trendline on above-average daily volume. Moreover, the drop coincided with the relative strength index (RSI) plunging below the 50 threshold, signaling accelerating selling momentum.
Investors should monitor major support levels on Alphabet’s chart around $141 and $131, while also watching major resistance levels near $165 and $182.
Read the full technical analysis piece here.
Major Index Futures Point to Higher Open
6 hr 12 min ago
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 0.7%.
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S&P 500 futures rose 0.9%.
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Nasdaq 100 futures added 1.2%.
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