Alphabet Inc (GOOG)

Among the lowest PEs in the Mag 7. They will continue to dominate online search, despite questions over gen AI. They're upgrading their AI though. As a major cloud player, they are benefitting from the rise in data centres and AI. At some point, shareholders may say they're not seeing returns in GOOG's capex spending, which happened to Meta a few years ago. If they stop spending, they will have even more cash, which is already healthy. The overhang now is the anti-competitive ruling, which will be a long process. GOOG will do well long-term and she will continue to hold it.

20 years ago it went public and has gained 7,736%. It's a big winner for him. It continues to reinvent itself. Five years ago, he spoke to the CEO who predicted a big cloud business soon, and now earn $42 billion.

We think this could be a sarcastic way of saying GOOG is showing complacency in innovation relative to other AI companies. Also, GOOG has been criticized recently for over-hiring, which the company has corrected in recent quarters. It is true that large organizations are not as nimble as start-ups, but at the same time, large, well-established companies also possess a more sustainable business model for investors to compound capital more safely.

There is something the venture capital community refers to as the “Innovators Dilemma”, where large organizations (such as IBM, ORCL, etc.) are usually being disrupted by new technologies as the new solutions do not look attractive (usually new technology has lower margins) and does not fit their main business models which have also been their cash cow for many years. MSFT has been the exception where the company reinvented itself to the new technological trend. Therefore, we think technological disruption is what investors need to monitor over time with companies like GOOG, that being said, we think in the near term, it would be really hard to replace GOOG, but the risk should be kept in mind for long-term shareholders. We would note that GOOG spent $47B on research in the last year, and perhaps the CEO is trying to light a fire under employees to ensure this spending results in future growth. 
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The anti-trust suit is more bark than bite, this regulatory overhang. It takes years for the decisions to come down and won't impact the company overall. Google will remain the top search engine; it's so dominant. At most, there will be a very short-term drag on the stock.

There's a regulatory overhang, but they will pay the fine and move on. More concerning is the lack of profit shown from their spending in AI. Peers like Apple and MSFT are showing better performance here. GOOG will underperform vs. peers for an extended period of time.

Phenomenally undervalued. Sold off due to negative headlines on anti-trust. Whether it stays as one or gets broken up, massive amount of value. If it no longer pays fees for exclusive Search access on smartphones, but people still choose to use them, enhances profitability.

20x earnings, gushes cash, debt-free. He'd buy today.

He likes it and it is a core holding in their technology portfolio. It trades at 20X earnings which is attractive since the multiple is better than many of the other big techs. Open AI and Bing haven't taken search business away from them. He likes the underlying business and the advertising part too.

Trades at 20x earnings. Has 30% of the digital ad market. YouTube has ups and downs, but it's growing and people are using it more aggressively such as for DIY projects. Yield is 0.5%.

Will appeal DOJ ruling. Search is an important part of how we live our lives today. Cheap, great business, great margins.

He thought recent numbers were pretty good, yet stock's off. YouTube was a bit weak. Incredible that a stock can move by missing on only 30 basis points. Overdone. Not that expensive at 22x. 

Future overhang is what Search looks like in light of generative AI. Will it lose market share to MSFT? Thinks it will work through all this.

Their report wasn't perfect. YouTube numbers missed, and they guided capex and marketing higher.

#3 in his fund with a 7.5% position, which is pretty big (he never goes over 10% on a single stock). Great place to buy. 12-month price target of $193. People are getting concerned about the capex, as we've seen with other companies.

This and Tesla triggered today's wide sell-off, but GOOG actually delivered a good quarter with super Google search and cloud numbers. YouTube results though faced tough comparisons over last year, but remains the top streamer. GOOG would have rallied, not sinking 5%, if not for the ongoing anti-tech rotation.

Total revenue rose 13.5% year-over-year to $84.74B beating analyst estimates of $84.29B. EPS also beat expectations of $1.85 coming in at $1.89. Search revenue and cloud revenue beat estimates, however Youtube ad revenue missed estimates for the quarter ($8.66B reported vs. $8.93B expected). Additionally, capital spending rose to $13.2B primarily supporting AI programs which exceeded analysts’ estimates of $12.2B. The market did not like the Youtube ad miss and the continued spending in AI with not much profitability to show for it yet. The quarter displayed solid growth from GOOG as a whole, but ROI on AI has been a painpoint for investors over recent weeks. 
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He bought some more today. Such a wonderful business, Search is going gangbusters. Doesn't seem as though competitors are making any inroads. Will be a leader in AI. Google cloud is reflecting positive margins. New CFO, he hopes smart capital allocation will continue.

Stock's done really well, valuation now not as attractive. The whole market's facing this dilemma.

He recently took profits because it ran up so much. Tech has been selling off this week, and this could fall further, like $160. You can buy this. A great company.