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☆ Microsoft extends cloud lead over Alphabet with focus on OpenAI, big clients
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-25 | by ( Aditya Soni | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

In the battle to tap the next growth driver for the cloud business, Microsoft has focused on its core business clients that already use many of its software services, while Google has turned to startups. The results show cloud spending is coming from enterprise clients, whereas smaller businesses are reducing their expenditure, he said. Strong AI use was responsible for a 3 percentage point boost to the Microsoft's cloud business in the September quarter. "Unlike many others who are touting their AI story, Microsoft is capable of delivering meaningful AI products to their customers," brokerage D.A. Many analysts were also optimistic about strength in Alphabet's core search business, but they warned the weakness in the cloud business would continue.

Persons: Morningstar, Ali Mogharabi, Krishna Chintalapalli, Satya Nadella, Davidson, Bernstein, Sundar Pichai, Aditya Soni, Akash Sriram, Arun Koyyur Organizations: Microsoft, Google, Parnassus Investments, Fortune, Thomson Locations: Bengaluru

☆ The digital ad market is showing signs of stabilization. How the pros are playing it
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-13 | by ( Samantha Subin | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

The signs of stabilization are perhaps most evident through recent better-than-feared earnings from behemoths like Alphabet and Meta Platforms as they focus on cost cuts and efficiency after 2022's rout. Meta Platforms said ad revenue rose about 12% last quarter from the prior year. Buying the '800-pound gorilla' It's hard to ignore Alphabet or Meta Platforms when investing in the advertising industry. On the digital side, Hanna Howard, a research analyst at GAMCO Investors, opts for Meta Platforms. Amazon posted a 22% increase in online advertising revenue year over year, and $10.68 billion in sales overall.

Persons: Susan Li, Rohit Kulkarni, Gene Munster, Paul Meeks, Meeks, Morningstar's Ali Mogharabi, Hanna Howard Organizations: Apple, Google, Roth Capital Partners, Street, Meta, Intelligence, Amazon, Independent Solutions Wealth Management, GAMCO Investors, Munster, Web Services

REUTERS/Mike Blake/File PhotoAug 9 (Reuters) - Lyft's shares tumbled more than 7% on Wednesday as investors feared the ride-hailing platform's focus on competitive pricing to gain market share would muddy its path to profitability. Lyft (LYFT.O) said on Tuesday it expects an operating profit of $75 million to $85 million for the third quarter. At least seven analysts cut their price targets on Lyft's shares and more than nine downgraded the stock, while two upgraded it. Median target price for the stock is $11, according to Refinitiv data. Lyft's stock suffers as post-pandemic recovery faltersReporting by Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty and Shounak DasguptaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Uber, Mike Blake, Jake Fuller, Morningstar, Ali Mogharabi, Dara Khosrowshahi, Akash Sriram, Saumyadeb Chakrabarty, Shounak Organizations: Los Angeles International, REUTERS, Reuters Graphics Reuters, Thomson Locations: California, Los Angeles , California, U.S, North America, Bengaluru

☆ Meta rallies as AI-powered ad sales drive 'monster' forecast
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-27 | by ( Aditya Soni | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

While Meta's 12% rise in second-quarter ad revenue surpassed the 3% growth at Alphabet's Google, earnings reports from both the digital ad behemoths reinforced a recovery in the sector. Smaller rival Snap (SNAP.N), however, disappointed on ad sales as advertisers stick to tried and true platforms. CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Reels now has an annual revenue run rate exceeding $10 billion, up from $3 billion last fall. Unsurprisingly, Reels monetization keeps improving," said Morningstar analyst Ali Mogharabi. "There is an element of uncertainty in CapEx spending growth for 2024.

Persons: Mark Shmulik, Bernstein, Mark Zuckerberg, Ali Mogharabi, Mark Mahaney, Aditya Soni, Saumyadeb Organizations: Google, Meta, Reuters Graphics, Evercore ISI, Thomson Locations: Bengaluru

☆ Elon Musk's Twitter rebrand sparks massive rallies in obscure crypto tokens with 'X' names
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-25 | by ( Phil Rosen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Elon Musk rebranded Twitter to X this week. It led to a price spike for some X-branded crypto tokens. One token saw a 1,200% rally after Musk's announcement, even though the project had shut down in May. Newer X-branded tokens also appeared on crypto exchanges following the rebrand of Musk's company. "But whether all the disappointed Twitter users go to Threads and actually stay there remains to be seen."

Persons: Linda Yaccarino, Yaccarino, Mark Zuckerberg, Ali Mogharabi Organizations: Elon, Service, Twitter, Traders, SpaceX, Morningstar Locations: Wall, Silicon, Elon Musk's, we're

☆ Threads now has ‘tens of millions’ of daily users. But its honeymoon phase may be over
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-19 | by ( Clare Duffy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

After surpassing 100 million user sign-ups in less than a week, user engagement on Threads has slowed. Threads daily active users fell from 49 million on July 7, two days after its launch, to 23.6 million users last Friday, according to a report published this week by web traffic analysis firm Similarweb. “I’m very optimistic about how the Threads community is coming together,” Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a post on the platform Monday. “We’re clearly way out over our skis on this,” Mosseri said in a Threads post the week of the app’s launch. Threads could be a way for Meta to eke additional engagement time out of its massive existing user base.

Persons: It’s, “, Mark Zuckerberg, who’s, Adam Mosseri, ” Mosseri, Mosseri, ” Meta, Elon Musk, ”, Ali Mogharabi, Musk, Scott Kessler, ” Kessler Organizations: New, New York CNN, Meta, Twitter, ”, ” Morningstar Locations: New York

☆ Where TikTok users may go if the app gets banned
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Samantha Murphy Kelly | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —On the eve of a high-profile TikTok hearing this week, the company shared that it now has more than 150 million US monthly active users. “This uncertainty could push some TikTok content creators to focus more on, and possibly begin, pushing their audiences to other social network platforms,” Mogharabi said. Snap’s stock rose in the days leading up to TikTok’s appearance before Congress amid renewed talks among federal officials of a TikTok ban. Alex Brandon/APIf that happens, Lian Jye Su, an analyst with ABI Search, believes users will follow their favorite TikTok influencers and content creators wherever they go. For now, talk of a TikTok ban may still be premature.

The Biden administration and CFIUS are pushing for a sale of TikTok in the US. The Chinese government could also block a TikTok sale outright before bidding kicks off. But the list of companies that would actually consider buying TikTok is small, experts told Insider. "I think Microsoft would be one of the only big money, big company possibilities." Ultimately, separating TikTok's US operations, whether in a sale to a big tech firm or a spin off, is complicated.

☆ What metaverse? Meta says its single largest investment is now in ‘advancing AI’
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Catherine Thorbecke | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

“Our single largest investment is in advancing AI and building it into every one of our products,” Zuckerberg said Tuesday. And not to be left behind, Meta announced late last month that it was forming a “top-level product group” to “turbocharge” the company’s work on AI tools. “I do think it is a good thing to focus on AI,” Ali Mogharabi, a senior equity analyst at Morningstar, told CNN of Zuckerberg’s comments. In 2022, Meta lost more than $13.7 billion in its “Reality Labs” unit, which houses its metaverse efforts. After taking a beating in 2022, shares for Meta have surged more than 50% since the start of the year.

☆ Money managers say these 10 stocks are screaming buys despite rampant inflation and lingering recession fears, according to Morningstar
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Morgan Chittum | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

From the Fed's aggressive rate hikes to Russia's war in Ukraine, investors have reasons to worry. These 10 stocks are a screaming buy during volatile periods, according to Morningstar. Sign up for our newsletter to get the inside scoop on what traders are talking about — delivered daily to your inbox. Morningstar analysts say invest in companies that have grabbed significant market share like Alphabet (GOOGL) or Wells Fargo (WFG). Despite market headwinds and volatility, Morningstar lists "high-conviction" purchases for companies that money managers "have made meaningful additions to their portfolios."

☆ Investors dump Lyft on signs Uber is snatching market share
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] A sign marks a rendezvous location for Lyft and Uber users at San Diego State University in San Diego, California, U.S., May 13, 2020. REUTERS/Mike BlakeNov 8 (Reuters) - Lyft Inc (LYFT.O) shares sank 20% on Tuesday on signs that competition from bigger rival Uber (UBER.N) was stalling user growth and eating into the market share of the ride-hailing firm. When rideshare ground to a halt during lockdowns, long-time market leader Uber's delivery business had given it an edge over pureplay Lyft. read more"While we think Lyft will remain the second-largest ridehailing platform in the U.S., we are now assuming Uber will slightly increase its market share over Lyft during the next few years," Morningstar analyst Ali Mogharabi said. Lyft lost market share to Uber in the third quarter, disappointing investorsHowever, a cost-cutting drive should help ease some of the pressure and help boost Lyft's profitability, according to Daiwa Capital Markets analyst Jairam Nathan.

☆ Elon Musk reportedly wants to fire most Twitter employees, but he told investors 5 months ago he wanted to grow the workforce to 11,000. Here's why experts think he changed his mind.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-23 | by ( Samantha Delouya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Elon Musk's plans for Twitter may have drastically changed since he agreed to the $44 billion purchase in April. Musk reportedly shared plans to grow Twitter's headcount by 3,600 in May. In the early days after the agreement, Musk reportedly pitched an ambitious proposal for Twitter to investors that directly contradicts a recent report about his plan for mass firings. "A lot has changed outside the business since Musk first spoke with Twitter employees. If you really are cutting 75% of Twitter's workforce, certainly you're cutting all that fat, but you're cutting deep into some of the muscle too," Shmulik said.

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