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$SPY & $GOOGL OTM Calls (unusual)
By: Cheddar Flow | February 7, 2023
• $SPY & $GOOGL OTM Calls (unusual)
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Alphabet's Earnings Are Mediocre, But Short Put Plays Are Still Hot
By: Barchart | February 5, 2023
Alphabet Inc. (GOOG, GOOGL) reported mediocre earnings results on Feb. 2, with slightly higher revenue but lower earnings and margins. Nevertheless, GOOG stock surged and short put option plays are making money for investors.
Revenue was up just 1% for the quarter YoY, but operating margins fell from 29% last year Q4 to just 24% in Q4 2022. Moreover, earnings per share (EPS) fell by a third from $1.53 to $1.05 per share.
More interesting was the 3.5% decline in Google Advertising revenue from $61.2 billion to $59 billion for the YoY comparison. The 32% revenue growth in Google Cloud led to an average of 1% growth in revenue overall, but the underlying decline in search ads is hurting the company. As a result, Google said on Jan. 20 it would lay off 12,000 people.
That represents about 6% of its global workforce. The company said it needed to downsize across the board to match its lower growth rate with the size of its workforce. That might help put the company back on an earnings growth rate curve.
At least analysts hope so. That is why the average EPS estimate is now $5.13 per share for 2023, up from the $4.56 achieved in 2022. However, this is still below the $5.61 earned in 2021. Nevertheless, these analysts also foresee $6.10 for the year ending Dec. 2024.
As a result, GOOG stock went from $99.87 at the end of January to a peak of $108.80 by Feb. 2 close. On Feb. 3, after the earnings announcement, the stock was down to $105.22.
Where This Leaves Short Put Option Investors In GOOG Stock
In several prior articles in January, I argued that short-put investors in GOOG stock, as well as GOOGL stock, could make good money shorting out-of-the-money puts. In fact, I also pointed out that several large funds had been buying in-the-money calls. They could have done this and made a good profit along with an out-of-the-money short put trade.
As it stands now, option premiums in Alphabet stock are still very high.
For example, March 3, 2023, GOOGL put premiums for the popular $100 strike price trades at $1.19 per contract. That represents a 1.19% yield to put strike price. The March 10 expiration period at the $100 strike price trades for $2.03 per contract, or 2.03% yield to put.
Similarly, for GOOG stock the March 3 $100 strike price put premiums are at $1.29 per contract and the March 10 $100 puts are at $1.45 per put contract.
That means the optimal play here is switching both stocks for the two expiration periods. Investors can short GOOG puts for $1.29 for March 3 expiration, and then either simultaneously short GOOGL puts for March 10 at $2.03, or wait to do that.
Either way, these two trades provide good income opportunities. Moreover, more conservative investors might want to short options at lower strike prices just below $100 in order to have more room for the stock to fall.
This shows that investors still have a good opportunity here to make additional income by playing out-of-the-money short strategies with GOOG and GOOGL stocks.
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GOOGL $549K OTM Call (Unusual) • Strike: 106 • Expiration: 2/10/23
By: Cheddar Flow | February 3, 2023
• $GOOGL $549K OTM Call (Unusual)
Strike: 106
Expiration: 2/10/23
*At the Ask*
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Google’s $GOOGL annual revenue since 2005
By: StockMKTNewz | February 2, 2023
• Google’s $GOOGL annual revenue since 2005
2005: $6.1B
2006: $10.6B
2007: $16.6B
2008: $21.8B
2009: $23.7B
2010: $29.3B
2011: $37.9B
2012: $46B
2013: $55.5B
2014: $66B
2015: $75B
2016: $90.3B
2017: $110.9B
2018: $136.8B
2019: $161.9B
2020: $182.5B
2021: $257.6B
2022: $282.8B
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DUMP THIS CRAP.... GOING DOWN HARD!!!!!!!!!
Google Shares Slip after Sales Miss as Advertising Demand Slows
By: Bloomberg | February 2, 2023
• CEO says company working toward a more durable cost structure
• Google will be more focused on AI, with updates soon
Google parent Alphabet Inc. reported fourth-quarter results that narrowly missed analysts’ expectations, signaling lower demand for its search advertising during an economic slowdown.
Sales, excluding partner payouts, were $63.1 billion in the fourth quarter, the company said Thursday in a statement. Analysts had projected $63.2 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Shares fell more than 3% in extended trading.
The lackluster results come as Google’s core advertising business is under threat on multiple fronts. The US Department of Justice has called for a breakup of the search giant’s ad-technology business over alleged illegal monopolization of the market. And the company’s flagship search business, which drives most of its ad revenue, may be under attack from new entrants. Google last year declared a “code red” in response to Open AI’s popular chatbot, ChatGPT.
Alphabet Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai put artificial intelligence front-and-center in his discussion of results, and said the company plans to change the way it reports certain AI activities. Starting this year, DeepMind, a division focused on AI research, will be included in Alphabet’s corporate costs to reflect how the technology is being incorporated into other businesses — rather than as part of “Other Bets,” Alphabet said.
“I’m excited by the AI-driven leaps we’re about to unveil in Search and beyond,” Pichai said in a statement Thursday. Google will make artificial intelligence-based large language models like LaMDA available “in the coming weeks and months,” he added in his commentary to analysts. Users will soon be able to use language models “as a companion to search.”
Read more: Amazon Projects Lackluster Sales on Slower Cloud Unit Growth
The company has acknowledged the challenges it faces with an increased commitment to efficiency. In January, Alphabet slashed 12,000 jobs, or 6% of its global workforce — the largest job cuts in its history. “We’re on an important journey to re-engineer our cost structure in a durable way and to build financially sustainable, vibrant, growing businesses across Alphabet,” Pichai said.
Other major tech firms have done cuts at a similar scale. Meta Platforms Inc., in a call with investors Wednesday after reporting a quarterly sales decline, also promised a leaner, more efficient organization.
Google’s ad results align with what its peers are seeing. Executives at Snap Inc. and Meta, despite reporting quarterly revenue declines, were cautiously optimistic about a return to growth on the horizon for online advertising.
In the fourth quarter, Google said profit was $1.05 per share, compared to Wall Street’s $1.20 per share estimate.
The results were mixed across Alphabet’s sprawling portfolio. Search and other related businesses, Google’s flagship, generated fourth-quarter sales of $42.6 billion, compared with analysts’ average estimate of $43.3 billion.
YouTube reported ad sales of $7.96 billion, compared with Wall Street’s estimate of $8.3 billion. The division is among the most susceptible to marketers’ pullback in spending.
“YouTube’s poor performance is a bit of an eyesore,” said Evelyn Mitchell, an analyst with Insider Intelligence. The business has had “rough go of things,” she added, as the app competes for attention with ByteDance Ltd.’s wildly popular TikTok, while navigating new ad privacy restrictions on iPhones.
Google’s closely watched cloud unit posted a loss of $480 million, better than analysts’ projections for a loss of $862 million. Although the business has yet to turn a profit and trails cloud-computing rivals Amazon.com Inc. and Microsoft Corp., the effort is viewed as one of the tech company’s best bets for growth as its search business matures. The unit generated $7.3 billion in sales, in line with analysts’ estimates.
Alphabet’s Other Bets — a hodgepodge of nascent companies including the self-driving company Waymo and life sciences unit Verily — brought in $226 million in fourth-quarter revenue while losing $1.63 billion. In January, before the larger job cuts enacted by the tech giant, Verily cut 15% of its staff as it eliminated some programs and streamlined operations.
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Google, In just Q4 2022 YouTube brought in $6.9 Billion of revenue from ads
By: StockMKTNewz | February 2, 2023
• Google $GOOGL acquired YouTube for $1.65 Billion back in October 2006
In just Q4 2022 YouTube brought in $6.9 Billion of revenue from ads
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GOOGL $1.9 Million Call Sweep • Strike: 102.5 • Expiration: 6/16/23
By: Cheddar Flow | February 2, 2023
• $GOOGL $1.9M Call Sweep
Strike: 102.5
Expiration: 6/16/23
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GOOGLE $GOOGL EARNINGS ARE OUT
By: StockMKTNewz | February 2, 2023
• GOOGLE $GOOGL EARNINGS ARE OUT
EPS of $1.05 missing expectations of $1.18
Adjusted Revenue of $63.1B beating expectations of $63.2B
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Google $GOOGL reports earnings today after the markets close, Wall ST is expecting numbers of
By: StockMKTNewz | February 2, 2023
• Google $GOOGL reports earnings today after the markets close, Wall ST is expecting numbers of
EPS of $1.33 down 5% YoY
Revenue of $63.25B down 16.1% YoY
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GOOG Held the 61.8% fib retracement & volume PoC like a champ!
By: TrendSpider | February 1, 2023
• $GOOG Held the 61.8% fib retracement & volume PoC like a champ!
Will tomorrow's ER propel Google through the $100 psych level?
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Earnings Preview: Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL)
By: 24/7 Wall St. | February 1, 2023
• Three mega-caps with market values above $1 trillion are all scheduled to report quarterly results after Thursday’s closing bell.
Alphabet
Over the past 12 months, the parent of Google, Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL), has posted a share price decline of about 27%. The stock’s 52-week high will celebrate its birthday on Thursday. After that rolls off, the stock falls pretty steadily to a 52-week low in early November.
The company has announced that 12,000 employees will be fired to cut costs. Analysts are going to want to know if those layoffs will be enough to boost earnings or if more cost-cutting is in order. Alphabet also faces headwinds in Europe, advertiser spending and a longer-term threat to its Google search engine from ChatGPT.
Analysts continue to be heavily bullish on Alphabet stock. Of 51 ratings, 47 are Buy or Strong Buy, and the other four are Hold ratings. At a recent price of around $99.00 a share, the upside potential based on a median price target of $124.00 is 25.3%. At the high price target of $160.00, the upside potential is 61.6%.
Fourth-quarter revenue is forecast at $76.49 billion, which would be up 10.7% sequentially and by 1.5% year over year. Adjusted EPS are pegged at $1.20 up 12.8% sequentially but down 21.6% year over year. For the full 2022 fiscal year, consensus estimates call for EPS of $4.74, down 15.5%, on revenue of $283.25 billion, up 9.9%.
Alphabet stock trades at about 21.0 times expected 2022 EPS, 1.8.9 times estimated 2023 earnings of $5.27 and 16.1 times estimated 2024 earnings of $6.16. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $83.34 to $151.55. The company does not pay a dividend, and the total shareholder return for the past 12 months is negative 27%.
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Alphabet (GOOGL) a more defensive stock in 2023 - BofA
By: Investing.com | January 31, 2023
Ahead of Alphabet's (NASDAQ:GOOGL) earnings release on Thursday, February 2, BofA analysts raised the firm's price target on the stock to $119 from $116, maintaining a Buy rating.
They told investors in a research note that the firm is updating estimates for FX and the tech giant's recent cost-cutting.
"We are at revenue/GAAP EPS of $63.6bn/$1.20 vs Street $64.5bn/$1.21," wrote the analysts. "Our recent ad checks with search large advertisers are mixed, with travel strength offset by eCommerce and finance pressure, and expect search at flat to down 1% in 4Q (in-line with buyside expectations)."
In addition, they said the firm expects YouTube ad revenue growth to "decelerate 3pts q/q to -5%, relatively in-line with Street." For Cloud, they see revenue growth decelerating 4pt q/q in the fourth quarter to +34% year-over-year to $7.4bn, slightly above Street consensus expectations, and with quarter-over-quarter margins improving to -8.8%.
On estimates and FX, they revealed that for 2023, it is "increasing revenue by 1% to $254.2bn (to 8% y/y growth), EBITDA by 4% to $121bn and GAAP EPS by 3% to $5.40 vs Street at $5.23."
However, they assume an FX benefit will offset some incremental core revenue pressure and expect layoffs to start aiding core Google margins in the second quarter, with year-over-year margins turning positive in the second half of 2023.
"We see Alphabet as a more defensive stock in group in 2023 (and less of a 'risk-on' stock after outperforming sector in 2022) with more relative earnings stability given utility of search, expense flexibility, healthy margins that will minimize cash flow concerns, and opportunity to support stock with buybacks," the analysts concluded.
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Meitav Dash Investments Ltd. Has $62.98 Million Position in Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL)
By: MarketBeat | January 29, 2023
• Meitav Dash Investments Ltd. lifted its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 2,369.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 647,210 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 621,005 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for 1.1% of Meitav Dash Investments Ltd.'s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. Meitav Dash Investments Ltd.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $62,984,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)...
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Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) Earnings this week
By: Options Mike | January 29, 2023
• $GOOGL $AMZN earnings this week, I'll wait and see, $GOOGL For what it's worth has lagged.
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Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) Shares Bought by LS Investment Advisors LLC
By: MarketBeat | January 27, 2023
• LS Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 1,915.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 86,920 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 82,607 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up 1.7% of LS Investment Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. LS Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $8,314,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission...
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ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd Acquires 12,732 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL)
By: MarketBeat | January 26, 2023
• ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd boosted its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 2,357.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,272 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 12,732 shares during the period. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd's holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,269,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission...
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Alphabet (GOOGL) to Release Earnings on Thursday
By: MarketBeat | January 26, 2023
• Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) is set to announce its earnings results after the market closes on Thursday, February 2nd. Analysts expect the company to announce earnings of $1.17 per share for the quarter. Individual that are interested in registering for the company's earnings conference call can do so using this link...
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Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) Position Lifted by Comerica Bank
By: MarketBeat | January 25, 2023
• Comerica Bank increased its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 1,901.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 923,385 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 877,243 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up 0.8% of Comerica Bank's holdings, making the stock its 10th largest position. Comerica Bank's holdings in Alphabet were worth $94,666,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)...
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Contrarian Outlook Warns Against the Alphabet (GOOGL) Stock Pop
By: Schaeffer's Investment Research | January 24, 2023
• Alphabet has joined growing list of tech giants announcing layoffs
• The stock has seen a surge in options activity
Google parent Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) has joined the growing list of tech behemoths that are initiating sizable layoffs. CEO Sundar Pichai explained it by noting that the company had previously hired for “a different economic reality than the one we face today.” Some of the other big names taking the initiative toward laying off workers are Amazon.com (AMZN), Microsoft (MSFT), and Facebook parent Meta Platforms (META). It’s not just Big Tech, either; Salesforces (CRM), crypto-adjacent Coinbase (COIN), and even niche companies like Teladoc (TDOC) are all cutting costs by reducing their workforce.
GOOGL is also making noise in the options pits, appearing on Schaeffer’s Senior Quantitative Analyst’s list of S&P 400 (SP400) stocks that have attracted the highest weekly options volume within the last two weeks. Per White, Alphabet stock saw 1,883,919 calls and 2,414,110 puts exchanged over this 10-day period. The most popular was the January 2023 107.50 put, followed by the 125 put in the same series. As of this writing, GOOGL was last seen trading up 4% at $96.83.
On Friday, GOOGL gapped higher on the heels of the layoff news, breaking above the long-term downtrend line that began at the equity’s February 2022 record peak of $151.54. Back in a supportive stance is the 80-day moving average, which has been a ceiling for the shares during the past several months but performed as long-term support in early 2021. Friday’s bull gap also has the shares sporting a nearly 10% year-to-date lead.
Data out of the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) is showing more of a preference for calls in the longer term, which means Friday’s outperformance could be short-lived, should this bullish sentiment unwind. GOOGL’s 50-day call/put volume ratio comes in at 2.22, which is twice the amount of puts traded in the past 10 weeks and ranks in the 97th annual percentile.
In conclusion, while the barrage of layoffs may have a positive short-term outlook for the tech companies and their respective stock performance, a careful consideration of the risk v. reward is recommended when buying for the long term.
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Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) Huge move off more layoffs announced. 102 in play now. Big gap and short term extended here
By: Options Mike | January 22, 2023
• $GOOGL Huge move off more layoffs announced. 102 in play now. Big gap and short term extended here.
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Here's the email Google CEO Sundar Pichai just sent to $GOOGL employees informing them the company is laying off 12,000 employees
By: StockMKTNewz | January 20, 2023
• Here's the email Google CEO Sundar Pichai just sent to $GOOGL employees informing them the company is laying off 12,000 employees.
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Google Calls In Help From Larry Page and Sergey Brin for A.I. Fight
By: New York Times | January 20, 2023
• A rival chatbot has shaken Google out of its routine, with the founders who left three years ago re-engaging and more than 20 A.I. projects in the works.
Last month, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google’s founders, held several meetings with company executives. The topic: a rival’s new chatbot, a clever A.I. product that looked as if it could be the first notable threat in decades to Google’s $149 billion search business.
Mr. Page and Mr. Brin, who had not spent much time at Google since they left their daily roles with the company in 2019, reviewed Google’s artificial intelligence product strategy, according to two people with knowledge of the meetings who were not allowed to discuss them. They approved plans and pitched ideas to put more chatbot features into Google’s search engine. And they offered advice to company leaders, who have put A.I. front and center in their plans.
The re-engagement of Google’s founders, at the invitation of the company’s current chief executive, Sundar Pichai, emphasized the urgency felt among many Google executives about artificial intelligence and that chatbot, ChatGPT.
The bot, which was released by the small San Francisco company OpenAI two months ago, amazed users by simply explaining complex concepts and generating ideas from scratch. More important to Google, it looked as if it could offer a new way to search for information on the internet.
The new A.I. technology has shaken Google out of its routine. Mr. Pichai declared a “code red,” upending existing plans and jump-starting A.I. development. Google now intends to unveil more than 20 new products and demonstrate a version of its search engine with chatbot features this year, according to a slide presentation reviewed by The New York Times and two people with knowledge of the plans who were not authorized to discuss them.
At the same time, Alphabet is scaling back its work force. On Friday, the company said it would cut about 12,000 jobs after a hiring spree during the pandemic and amid concerns of a slowing economy. The layoffs were designed “to ensure that our people and roles are aligned with our highest priorities as a company,” Mr. Pichai wrote in a note to employees.
“This is a moment of significant vulnerability for Google,” said D. Sivakumar, a former Google research director who helped found a start-up called Tonita, which makes search technology for e-commerce companies. “ChatGPT has put a stake in the ground, saying, ‘Here’s what a compelling new search experience could look like.’” Mr. Sivakumar added that Google had overcome previous challenges and could deploy its arsenal of A.I. to stay competitive.
Since stepping back from day-to-day duties, Mr. Page and Mr. Brin have taken a laissez-faire approach to Google, two people familiar with the matter said. They have let Mr. Pichai run the company and its parent company, Alphabet, while they have pursued other projects, such as flying car start-ups and disaster relief efforts.
Their visits to the company’s Silicon Valley offices in the last few years have mostly been to check in on the so-called moonshot projects that Alphabet calls “Other Bets,” one person said. Until recently, they have not been very involved with the search engine.
But they have long been keen on bringing A.I. into Google’s products. Vic Gundotra, a former senior vice president at Google, recounted that he gave Mr. Page a demonstration of a new Gmail feature around 2008. But Mr. Page was unimpressed by the effort, asking, “Why can’t it automatically write that email for you?” In 2014, Google also acquired DeepMind, a leading A.I. research lab based in London.
Google’s Advanced Technology Review Council, a panel of executives that includes Jeff Dean, the company’s senior vice president of research and artificial intelligence, and Kent Walker, Google’s president of global affairs and chief legal officer, met less than two weeks after ChatGPT debuted to discuss their company’s initiatives, according to the slide presentation.
They reviewed plans for products that were expected to debut at Google’s company conference in May, including Image Generation Studio, which creates and edits images, and a third version of A.I. Test Kitchen, an experimental app for testing product prototypes.
Other image and video projects in the works included a feature called Shopping Try-on, a YouTube green screen feature to create backgrounds; a wallpaper maker for the Pixel smartphone; an application called Maya that visualizes three-dimensional shoes; and a tool that could summarize videos by generating a new one, according to the slides.
Google has a list of A.I. programs it plans to offer software developers and other companies, including image-creation technology, which could bolster revenue to Google’s Cloud division. There are also tools to help other businesses create their own A.I. prototypes in internet browsers, called MakerSuite, which will have two “Pro” versions, according to the presentation.
In May, Google also expects to announce a tool to make it easier to build apps for Android smartphones, called Colab + Android Studio, that will generate, complete and fix code, according to the presentation. Another code generation and completion tool, called PaLM-Coder 2, has also been in the works.
Google executives hope to reassert their company’s status as a pioneer of A.I. The company aggressively worked on A.I. over the last decade and already has offered to a small number of people a chatbot that could rival ChatGPT, called LaMDA, or Language Model for Dialogue Applications.
“We continue to test our A.I. technology internally to make sure it’s helpful and safe, and we look forward to sharing more experiences externally soon,” Lily Lin, a spokeswoman for Google, said in a statement. She added that A.I. would benefit individuals, businesses and communities and that Google is considering the broader societal effects of the technology...
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Google parent to lay off 12,000 workers as AI focus intensifies
By: Jeffrey Dastin | January 20, 2023
(Reuters) - Google's parent Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Inc is cutting about 12,000 jobs, or 6% of its workforce, it said in a staff memo Friday, as the technology sector reels from layoffs and companies stake their futures on artificial intelligence (AI).
Alphabet's shares were up nearly 4% in morning trade.
The cuts come at a delicate moment for the U.S. company, which has long been the leader in key areas of AI research.
Alphabet now faces a challenge from Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) in a branch of tech that can, for instance, create virtually any content a user thinks up and types in a text box. Industry observers said so-called generative AI may test Google's dominance in internet search after a Microsoft-backed startup, OpenAI, released a chatbot known as ChatGPT that can answer queries with human-like responses.
Microsoft this week said recession worries were forcing it, too, to shed 10,000 jobs, less than 5% of its workforce, but it would focus on imbuing its products with more AI going forward. Alphabet's CEO Sundar Pichai echoed the sentiment in his layoff memo.
Alphabet faced "a different economic reality" from the past two years when it rapidly expanded headcount, decisions for which Pichai said he took "full responsibility."
Pichai became Alphabet CEO in 2019.
Still, he said, Google was gearing up "to share some entirely new experiences for users, developers and businesses," and the company has "a substantial opportunity in front of us with AI across our products."
The company has been working on a major AI launch, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters. One of the sources said it would take place in the spring of this year. The New York Times also reported that Google planned to unveil more than 20 new products and a search engine including chatbot features.
Susannah Streeter, an analyst with Hargreaves Lansdown, said advertising, the key business underpinning Google's search engine and YouTube, was not immune to economic turbulence.
"Ad growth has come off the boil, a sharp contrast from the busy days of the post-pandemic re-opening which saw a surge in consumer spending," she said. The company faces competitive and regulatory threats as well, she said.
It was unclear if Alphabet would take a one-time financial charge related to the job cuts. Microsoft's severance packages, lease consolidation and hardware-lineup changes will cost the company more than $1 billion, it said earlier this week.
More than 38,000 tech-industry workers have faced layoffs this year alone, after nearly 155,000 lost their jobs in 2022, tracking website Layoffs.fyi stated. Companies cutting thousands of workers have included Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN), Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META) and Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Inc.
Alphabet's layoffs followed a review of its people and priorities, leading to a workforce reduction hitting various geographies, Pichai said. Among those losing their jobs are recruiters, corporate staff and people working on engineering and product teams, he added.
In the United States, where Alphabet has already emailed affected employees, staff would receive severance and six months of healthcare as well as immigration support. Alphabet is based in Mountain View, California.
One person who said he worked on Google's Chrome browser posted on Twitter that he had lost his job even as he stepped into a leadership position on a project.
Overseas, layoff notifications will take longer due to local employment laws and practices, Pichai said in the memo.
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GOOG Noteworthy relative strength from Google today with price peeking above wedge resistance and the 50 day SMA
By: TrendSpider | January 19, 2023
• $GOOG Noteworthy relative strength from Google today with price peeking above wedge resistance and the 50 day SMA.
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Recession fears: Tech companies laying off 1,600 workers per day in 2023, and it's increasing
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/jobs/recession-fears-tech-companies-laying-off-1600-worker-per-day-in-2023-and-its-increasing/articleshow/97050075.cms $GOOG
In-The-Money GOOG Options Still Look Attractive To Value Buyers
By: Barchart | January 16, 2023
Alphabet (GOOG) is set to announce its earnings on Feb 2. The stock has been rising as markets expect good numbers. Value buyers are looking at in-the-money (ITM) calls to play this for long-term gains. I described this ITM play in an earlier article this month, and so far it seems to be working out.
For example, today, Jan. 16, 2023, GOOG stock is trading at $92.80. That is up significantly from the price of $88.73 on Jan. 2, when we saw investors buying ITM March 17, 2023 calls at the $85.00 strike price for $8.48 per call option. That means that the breakeven price for the ITM call buyers would be $93.48 (i.e. $85.00 strike price plus $8.48 premium).
At the time there was just $3.73 of intrinsic value since the calls were worth this much at the price then (i.e., $88.73-$85.00). Now there is $7.80 per call of intrinsic value, since the stock is almost there now, almost all of the extrinsic premium has been used up. And there is still plenty of time for the play to work out.
Updating The Trade
At the time I suggested shorting out-of-the-money puts to be able to cover most of the extrinsic value, in case GOOG stock stayed flat. That provided $5.40 in income at the $85.00 strike price for Jan. 27. So, now as it stands, those puts are worth significantly less at just 21 cents.
So, now investors with the original trade have a clear profit since the profit from the short put is $5.18 (i.e., $5.40-$021), less the slight loss on the call purchase of $0.68 (i.e., $92.80 - $93.48 breakeven). This represents a profit of $4.50 (i.e., $5.18-$0.68) or $450 per call option purchase. That is a gain of 53% on the original $8.48 purchase price of the ITM GOOG calls.
Now, most of the value has been extracted from the put trade, so investors might consider rolling this over.
This is done by putting in an order to “Buy to Close.” That will cost 21 cents on the ask side, but now investors can short a March 17. Then the investor can short the Feb. 17, $85.00 puts and immediately receive $1.45 at the mid-price.
GOOG Puts - Expiring Feb. 17, 2023 - Barchart - As of Jan. 16, 2023
This represents an immediate yield of 1.70% since the $1.45 in income represents 1.70% of the $85.00 per share potential purchase price if the stock falls to this level by Feb. 17.
Moreover, some investors may want to put on another medium-term in-the-money GOOG call purchase. After all, the investor may already have a nice profit. But even with the $1.45 put trade, this allows the investor to cover much of the extrinsic value for a new call purchase.
For example, the April 21, 2023 expiration $90.00 calls cost just $8.23, similar to the prior purchase for $8.48 of the March 17 $85.00 calls. This means the breakeven for the call investor will be $98.48 per share for GOOG stock, which already is at $92.80 today. So there is $2.80 in intrinsic value (i.e., $92.80 price today-$90.00 strike price), and $5.68 in extrinsic value.
This time, however, the short put income of $1.45 does not completely cover that extrinsic value. In fact, the investor might want to short the $90.00 puts and collect $2.89 (see the options chain above). If you are relatively bullish on the stock, given that earnings are coming out on Feb. 2, this might make sense. That will leave just $3.00 in extrinsic value not covered. But there is plenty of time left for the investor to make this up. For example, the investor could short March puts as well as April puts once the Feb. 17 puts near expiration.
This shows how the investor can play the upcoming earnings announcement for Alphabet with in-the-money calls and short put plays.
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Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) Stake Boosted by AMI Asset Management Corp
By: MarketBeat | January 15, 2023
• AMI Asset Management Corp increased its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 1,774.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 590,439 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 558,947 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises approximately 4.1% of AMI Asset Management Corp's holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. AMI Asset Management Corp's holdings in Alphabet were worth $56,475,000 at the end of the most recent quarter...
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Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) Shares Purchased by Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc
By: MarketBeat | January 13, 2023
• Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 1,900.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 46,420 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 44,099 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for about 2.8% of Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc's holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc's holdings in Alphabet were worth $4,440,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission...
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Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) Remains a lagger in tech. 50D almost there....
By: Options Mike | January 15, 2023
• $GOOGL remains a lagger in tech. 50D almost there.... Prefer names that are leading on dips.
May want to wait til earnings on this one.
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GOOG $2.0 Million Call • Strike: 100 • Expiration: 1/19/24
By: Cheddar Flow | January 13, 2023
• $GOOG $2.0M Call
Strike: 100
Expiration: 1/19/24
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Google parent Alphabet reportedly starts cutting jobs at healthcare unit
By: Morningstar | January 11, 2023
Google parent Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL)(GOOGL) started its anticipated layoffs beginning with its healthcare unit Verily Life Sciences, according to a Wall Street Journal report Wednesday. More than 200 jobs are being trimmed at the 1,600-employee unit, the Journal reported, citing an email from Verily head Stephen Gillett to employees. Rumored layoffs of up to 10,000, or 6% of Alphabet's workforce, have been brewing since November.
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Nice call
GOOG $1.5 Million Call • Strike: 90 • Expiration: 4/21/23
By: Cheddar Flow | January 9, 2023
• $GOOG $1.5M Call
Strike: 90
Expiration: 4/21/23
*At the Ask*
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Alphabet (GOOGL) Price Target Cut to $160.00 by Analysts at Tigress Financial
By: MarketBeat | January 6, 2023
• Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) had its target price lowered by stock analysts at Tigress Financial from $186.00 to $160.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, The Fly reports. Tigress Financial's target price points to a potential upside of 84.48% from the stock's current price...
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Q2 2023 EPS Estimates for Alphabet Inc. Cut by Analyst (GOOGL)
By: MarketBeat | January 5, 2023
• Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) - Research analysts at William Blair lowered their Q2 2023 earnings per share estimates for Alphabet in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, January 4th. William Blair analyst R. Schackart now expects that the information services provider will post earnings per share of $1.20 for the quarter, down from their previous estimate of $1.22. The consensus estimate for Alphabet's current full-year earnings is $4.68 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Alphabet's Q3 2023 earnings at $1.25 EPS, Q4 2023 earnings at $1.25 EPS and FY2023 earnings at $4.74 EPS...
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Google $GOOGL CEO Sundar Pichai just received 1.33M shares of $GOOG stock at an average cost of $0 per share
By: StockMKTNewz | January 6, 2023
• Google $GOOGL CEO Sundar Pichai just received 1.33M shares of $GOOG stock at an average cost of $0 per share
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Target This Big Tech Alphabet (GOOGL)Stock in January
By: Schaeffer's Investment Research | January 3, 2023
• GOOGL is a historical outperformer in January
• The equity shed more than 40% in 2022
After the major benchmarks turned in their worst annual performance since 2008, Wall Street has its eyes set on the new year. While we can't predict how the market will move in 2023, we can use historical data to try and steer investors in the right direction. And according to data from Schaeffer's Senior Quantitative Analyst Rocky White, Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) could have an upbeat month ahead.
Digging deeper, seasonality suggests the shares of Google's parent company could rise in January. Alphabet stock just landed on White's list of the best performing stocks on the S&P 500 Index (SPX) for the month, going back a decade. In fact, GOOGL saw positive monthly returns in eight out of these 10 years, boasting an average gain of 4%.
Today, GOOGL is 0.7% higher at $88.88. The last year was rough for the equity, which shed nearly 40% in 2022. After slipping from a Feb. 2, record high of $151.54, Alphabet stock's mid-August rally was thwarted by its 140-day moving average. Meanwhile, the 80-day trendline stalled pops in November and December.
It looks like options players may be privy to this January trend, though. Already within the first hour of trading, more than 42,000 calls have crossed the tape, which is almost double the intraday average volume. The most popular contract, where new positions are being opened, is the weekly 1/6 91-strike call.
The collective group known as FAANG has struggled with an identity crisis following Facebook's name change to Meta Platforms (META), and have also shared the 2022 struggles. META has shed 63% year-over-year while Amazon.com (AMZN) lost 50.1%, Apple (AAPL) dipped 30.8%, and Netflix (NFLX) took a 51.3% haircut.
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Value Buyers Are Watching Alphabet (GOOG) Stock For A Rebound In January
By: Barchart | January 3, 2023
Alphabet (GOOG) stock fell about 39% last year, including a decline of 7.68% in December. As a result, value investors are looking for a rebound in GOOG stock. After all, analysts expect higher earnings in 2023 and its multiple is well below its historical average.
For example, 44 analysts surveyed by Seeking Alpha forecast $4.77 in earnings per share (EPS) for 2022 and project $5.31 for 2023, an increase of 11.3%. Since GOOG stock closed 2022 at $88.73 per share on Dec. 30, that puts it on a forward multiple of just 16.7x. Barchart says its survey of 12 analysts projects $5.08 EPS for 2023. This puts it on a forward 17.5x multiple and an EPS increase of 8.54%.
Trading Below Historical Averages
Both of these forward price-to-earnings (P/E) estimates are well below Google's historical P/E average. For example, Morningstar says that the 5-year average for GOOG stock has been 25.73x. That means that using the most conservative estimate today (Barchart), GOOG stock is still 47% too cheap (i.e., 25.73x/17.5x-1=1.47-1=47.0%).
Moreover, Seeking Alpha says that the average historical multiple has been 26.73x, which is even higher than Morningstar. That implies a 60% upside (i.e., 26.73x/16.7x-1=1.60-1=60%).
As a result, we can afford to be conservative in setting a price target. For example, let's say that GOOG stock rises by only 50% of its historical average. That means it could trade between 50% of 47% to 60% higher. That works out to an upside of between 23.5% to 30%, or 26.75% on average. That puts the target price at $112.47 (i.e., 1.2675 x $88.75).
We can use this to figure out how to play this with options.
Making Money With GOOG Calls And Puts
One way to play this is to buy in-the-money calls for a long period in the future. For example, the $85.00 strike price calls for expiration on March 17, 2023, trade for just $8.48 per call option. That means that if the stock stays where it is today by March 17, at $88.73, there will still be at least $3.73 per share in intrinsic value (i.e., $88.73-$85.00). That represents 43.9% of the $8.48 call option price, providing a good deal of security and plenty of time for GOOG stock to rise.
GOOG - Calls - Expiring March 17, 2023 - Barchart - As of Dec. 30, 2022
The reason why you might consider doing this is that if GOOG stock rises to $112.50 by March 17, the target price from above, these March 17 calls will be worth $27.50 per option. That is 3.25x the price paid for the calls at $8.48 and an ROI of 225%.
One way to pay for this extra $4.75 in extrinsic value or extra premium (i.e., $8.48 call price - $3.73 intrinsic value) is to short near-term out-of-the-money puts.
For example, the Jan. 27 puts at $85.00 strike price trade for $1.80. By shorting those puts for three months straight, you can pick up potentially $5.40 (i.e., $1.80 x 3), assuming the put price stays the same. That more than covers the potential $4.75 extrinsic value loss assuming GOOG stock stays the same by March 17. Keep in mind that the investor will have to put up $8500 in cash or margin with the brokerage firm to be able to “sell to open” GOOG stock.
This is a simple way that investors can play the upside in GOOG stock, as well as create income by doing so.
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GOOGL Has to break above it for a long now.. 21D next test if it does
By: Options Mike | January 2, 2023
• $GOOGL 52W not far off now. 8D failures like many other tech names last week. Has to break above it for a long now.. 21D next test if it does.
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Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) 2023 Stock Market Forecast
By: Tom Bowley | January 1, 2023
Large Caps Must Rebound
Our major indices like the S&P 500 and NASDAQ 100 are driven mostly by large cap performance. These are two market-cap-weighted indices, meaning that large cap stocks like Apple, Inc. (AAPL) and Microsoft (MSFT) will carry a heavy burden. The following six companies represent more than 20% of the S&P 500 and nearly 42% of the NASDAQ 100. If they don't rebound and begin to outperform, it'll likely be another difficult year ahead. Here's a quick glance at each of the four on long-term monthly charts:
GOOGL:
Alphabet (GOOGL) has seen a steady drop in 2022, but it has crushed many of its internet peers. GOOGL remains a clear leader in the space. However, the internet group ($DJUSNS), as a whole, was the fourth worst performing industry group (out of 104). GOOGL has now tested its monthly PPO centerline and its 50-month SMA.
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Alphabet $GOOG Has $29.34B DEBT
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to All!
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