Topic of the Week

Alphabet, the parent company of Google and YouTube, reported stronger-than-expected first-quarter growth this week. The company’s shares rose 4% in extended trading on Thursday and saw a 3.15% increase in the past week alone. 

This stronger-than-expected revenue growth takes Alphabet;s revenue to US$90.23 billion. This brings year-to-year growth to 12%, higher than the 10% that Wall Street expected. Earnings per share also went up from $1.89 to $2.81, far beyond the $2.01 forecast. This led to Alphabet’s Class A and C shares rising 3.5% in extended trading. 

What does this mean for you?

Search engines aren’t going anywhere yet.

Despite the US judge ruling that Alphabet (in particular, Google) illegally monopolised the online advertising market and Europe charging Google with anti-competitive practices, Alphabet’s better-than-expected earnings indicates that it still has what it takes to stay competitive in an AI age.

The company can attribute its latest performance mainly to strong ad sales, a hefty $70 billion stock buyback, and its thriving $12.26 billion cloud business. Google Search’s AI also attracted 1.5 billion monthly users, and over 270 million paid subscribers boosted YouTube and Google One. 

Stay in the game, reap the gains

Alphabet is projected to reach an average price of $220.66 in 2025, with a high prediction of $249.62 and a low estimate of $191.70. To capture these gains, it helps to stay invested.

Syfe’s Core Equity100 portfolio offers diversified exposure to over 5,000 stocks and automatic dividend reinvesting so that you can keep your finger over the market pulse. Periodic rebalancing by the Syfe wealth management team also means that you can leave the heavy lifting to us. 

Invest in Core Equity100 today.

Market Recap

Global financial markets rebounded this week as investor sentiment improved following a series of positive earnings reports and easing trade tensions. The S&P 500, Nasdaq and Dow Jones all saw upticks after weeks of downturn. REITs also experienced a positive week, buoyed by favourable macroeconomic conditions, while gold prices also rose.

Key Events for the Week

This week, investors will closely monitor the following key events:

• Mon: –
• Tue: China composite and manufacturing PMI (April)
• Wed: US Q1 GDP (QoQ), US PCE price index (YoY, MoM) 
• Thur: US manufacturing PMI (April)
• Fri: US unemployment rate (April)