This week:
- Alphabet, the parent company of Google, reported earnings this week. Despite beating on both revenue and profit, its stock dropped the most this year because of mounting traffic acquisition costs. Alphabet didn't shy away from this fact on the subsequent analyst call, stressing that it's more focused on increasing profit, rather than margins. The large stock move is indicative of the broader market, which is seeing bigger price swings on earnings reports, particularly in tech.
- Sonu Kalra, a portfolio manager with Fidelity's Blue Chip Growth Fund, spoke to Business Insider CEO Henry Blodget about Alphabet, saying that the company is "at the heart of a lot of positive trends" and still has a "very strong" long-term outlook. He also predicts that its push into artificial intelligence (AI) could add $50-100 billion of market cap.
- Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg are waging a public debate over the merits of AI. Musk has said in the past that AI could be potentially very damaging to humans, and Zuckerberg recently called such doomsday predictions "irresponsible." Musk responded on Twitter, calling Zuckerberg's understanding of AI "limited." There is, however, one thing they're able to agree on: it will affect income and the labor market.
- Gene Munster, founding partner of Loup Ventures and former star Apple analyst at Piper Jaffary, discusses Alphabet's second-quarter earnings report. He talks about how the expected slowdown in Alphabet revenue still hasn't materialized, and says the company has "a lot of good things going on," including a push into AI. Munster says the sharp downward move on Alphabet's earnings was a "short-sighted" reaction, and calls the company "the oxygen of the Internet." He also aligns with Mark Zuckerberg when it comes to the raging AI debate. Munster then breaks down his favorite growth story: Tesla, which he thinks will exceed expectations. He also talks his old favorite, Apple.