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Investing.com - BofA Securities maintained its Buy rating and $200.00 price target on Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) following an AI-focused bull/bear debate attended by over 200 investors, according to a note released Tuesday. For deeper insights into tech companies like Alphabet, InvestingPro offers comprehensive research reports covering 1,400+ top stocks.
The debate revealed mixed investor sentiment, with bears expressing concerns about engagement losses to platforms like ChatGPT, monetization challenges with AI Overviews, and potential fallout from the Department of Justice search case outcome, particularly if Google is barred from paying for default placement on Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) devices. According to InvestingPro data, Apple maintains a "GOOD" overall financial health score and generates over $138 billion in EBITDA, highlighting the significance of this partnership for Google.
Bears also questioned management execution, transparency compared to competitors, and whether Google needs to defend its position more aggressively, potentially leading to an estimate reset, the BofA Securities note indicated.
Bulls countered by highlighting Google’s ecosystem integration and first-party data advantage, strong monetization capabilities underpinned by proprietary commercial intent signals, and established publisher relationships that provide an edge over AI platforms relying on scraped web content.
The bullish case also emphasized that consumer behavior remains aligned with search listings, regulatory clarity could enable more aggressive AI rollouts, and underappreciated non-Search segments like Cloud, YouTube, and Waymo could drive stock appreciation even if core search growth slows.
In other recent news, Apple has been at the center of several significant developments. JPMorgan has lowered its price target for Apple from $240 to $230, citing concerns over iPhone 17 demand, although the firm maintains an Overweight rating. The bank anticipates a moderation in demand due to a shift in consumer buying patterns and macroeconomic uncertainties but expects strong results for Apple’s fiscal third quarter of 2025. UBS has reiterated a Neutral rating with a $210 price target, noting a mid-teens year-over-year increase in iPhone sales for April and May, although they caution that this surge may not be sustainable. In legal matters, Apple faces a proposed class-action lawsuit from shareholders alleging misrepresentation of AI integration timelines in its Siri assistant, which they claim negatively impacted iPhone sales.
Additionally, Apple has reached its highest smartphone sales share since the pandemic, driven by subsidies in China and concerns over potential U.S. tariffs. Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo from TF International Securities suggests that Apple’s purchase of President Trump’s "gold cards" might be a strategic move to divert attention from potential iPhone tariffs. These tariffs could significantly impact iPhone prices in the U.S., as Trump has threatened a 25% tariff on iPhones not manufactured domestically. Meanwhile, Apple is actively working to diversify its supply chain and has committed $500 billion to U.S. manufacturing.
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