4. Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)
DE Shaw’s Stake Value: $612,254,000
Percentage of DE Shaw’s 13F Portfolio: 0.71%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 153
Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG), a communication services company, offers a range of products and platforms across the globe. The company operates through the Google Services, Google Cloud, and Other Bets segments, to offer products and services like ads, Android, Chrome, and Gmail.
Ivan Feinseth, an analyst at Tigress Financial, holds a Strong Buy rating on Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) shares as of August 3. The analyst also raised his price target on the stock from $183 to $186.
In the second quarter, Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) saw a revenue increase of 12.6%, bringing the company’s revenue up to $69.7 billion. The stock rose by 3.9% as a result, this July.
Our hedge fund data shows 153 hedge funds long Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) in the second quarter, with a total stake value of $22.2 billion. In comparison, there were 160 hedge funds long the company in the previous quarter, with a total stake value of $29.7 billion.
L1 Capital International, an investment management company, mentioned Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) in its second quarter 2022 investor letter. Here’s what they said:
“Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) is by far the largest online advertising business globally, dominating Search outside of China and other protected markets. Online advertising is driven by eCommerce – not just buying online, but also omnichannel (for example, searching for a product online and then buying it instore).
Retail sales have consistently shifted online. Historically, eCommerce has increased its penetration of adjusted total U.S. retail sales by around 1% per annum. However, due to COVID-19 and associated lockdowns, eCommerce penetration stepped up by 5% in 2020 and now accounts for over 20% of adjusted retail sales (excluding food services, automotive and gas stations), up from 6% in 2010 (see Figure 6).
Alphabet has been a major beneficiary of COVID-19, with its advertising revenue increasing 43% to nearly US$210 billion in 2021. Naturally this level of growth is unsustainable particularly in a worsening macroeconomic environment and some retail activity is shifting back offline as people are less restricted by COVID-19. However, the established trend of increasing eCommerce penetration will not reverse, and we expect Alphabet’s advertising revenue to continue to increase, albeit after a period of muted growth in 2022 and 2023. There are also bright spots for Alphabet such as travel advertising, which is recovering strongly post COVID-19…” (Click here to read the full text)
