DiscoverGold
5 days ago
Google Acquires Wiz
By: TrendSpider | March 20, 2025
Key Takeaways
• Google’s biggest deal: $32B Wiz acquisition surpasses its $12.5B Motorola buy.
• Regulatory-driven offer hike: Google raised its bid by 39%, with a $3.2B breakup fee.
• Cybersecurity push: Wiz’s $700M revenue boosts Google against Microsoft.
Google’s Largest Acquisition: $32 Billion Deal with Wiz
Google (GOOGL) announced its largest acquisition to date, acquiring cloud security startup Wiz for $32 billion in an all-cash deal on Tuesday. The acquisition surpasses Google’s $12.5 billion Motorola Mobility purchase in 2012, reinforcing its cybersecurity position amid rising AI-driven threats.
The deal follows months of negotiations. Google initially offered $23 billion in July 2024, but Wiz considered an IPO. Unfavorable market conditions and shifting U.S. antitrust policies under President Donald Trump’s administration revived discussions. Following Trump’s January 20, 2025, inauguration, the appointment of Andrew Ferguson as FTC Chair and Gail Slater to lead antitrust reviews accelerated talks. Google increased its offer by 39% and raised the breakup fee to $3.2 billion—10% of the deal value, significantly above the 4%-7% industry standard.
Wiz’s Rapid Growth and Market Impact
Founded in 2020, Wiz has rapidly expanded, securing over 50% of Fortune 100 companies as customers. Led by CEO Assaf Rappaport, the company achieved $100 million in annual recurring revenue within 18 months. By May 2024, Wiz reached a $12 billion valuation, maintaining a 70% annual revenue growth rate and generating $700 million in annualized revenue.
Regulatory concerns initially slowed negotiations. The failed $20 billion Adobe-Figma acquisition in 2023, along with Google’s ongoing DOJ lawsuits over search and ad technology dominance, made Wiz’s largest VC backers initially cautious about regulatory risks during acquisition discussions. Former FTC Chair Lina Khan’s aggressive antitrust stance heightened regulatory fears. However, momentum shifted when Fazal Merchant joined Wiz as CFO in January 2025, playing a crucial role in final negotiations with Google Cloud chief Thomas Kurian and other executives.
Expanding Google’s Cybersecurity Investments
The acquisition comes amid a slowdown in venture-backed M&A activity. In 2024, there were 2,066 VC-backed startup exits worth $83.6 billion, but Q1 2025 saw only 382 deals totaling $13.6 billion, according to PitchBook data. The Wall Street Journal first reported on Monday that Google and Wiz were in advanced talks. With this move, Google strengthens its cybersecurity offerings against Microsoft (MSFT), which has been expanding its security portfolio.
Despite the acquisition, Wiz’s products will remain available on Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Oracle Cloud, ensuring a broad customer base. The regulatory strategy remains uncertain. Some firms, like Tempur Sealy, preemptively consult U.S. antitrust regulators before major deals—such as its $4 billion Mattress Firm acquisition in 2023. It is unclear whether Google and Wiz took a similar approach.
With $96 billion in cash reserves, Google’s investment in Wiz signals a long-term commitment to cybersecurity leadership in an evolving digital landscape. Alphabet shares fell ~2% on Tuesday and are now down 15% for the year.
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DiscoverGold
1 week ago
Alphabet back in talks to buy Israel’s Wiz for over $30 billion, source says
By: Reuters | March 17, 2025
Google-parent Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) is in advanced negotiations to buy Israeli cybersecurity company Wiz with an offer of more than $30 billion, according to a source familiar with the matter, marking its largest potential acquisition to date.
Alphabet’s latest offer is higher by roughly a third of the $23 billion deal it offered last year, which Wiz called off in July 2024 over concerns it would not clear antitrust hurdles.
Wiz had said in an internal memo at the time that it would focus on an initial public offering. Neither company has publicly acknowledged a deal. They did not immediately reply on Monday to Reuters requests for comment.
The deal hasn’t been signed and could still change, the person familiar with the development said. The Wall Street Journal on Monday first reported the news of the talks between the companies, citing sources.
If the Wiz acquisition goes ahead, it would help Alphabet tap the cybersecurity market and expand its booming cloud infrastructure business, which generated more than $43 billion in revenue last year.
While U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration is widely expected to drop some antitrust policies pursued under the administration of President Joe Biden, a deal that creates a cybersecurity behemoth is still likely to draw scrutiny.
Wall Street had expected a bump in dealmaking after Trump’s election, but the tariffs he has imposed or threatened have roiled global markets and left businesses and investors uncertain about big decisions.
Wiz provides cloud-based cybersecurity solutions powered by artificial intelligence that help companies identify and remove critical risks on cloud platforms.
It works with multiple cloud providers such as Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) and counts companies from Morgan Stanley to DocuSign (NASDAQ:DOCU) among its customers. With 900 employees across the United States, Europe, Asia and Israel, Wiz previously said it planned to add 400 workers globally in 2024.
Interest in the cybersecurity industry has surged since the global CrowdStrike (NASDAQ:CRWD) outage last year, making enterprises more concerned about protecting their digital infrastructures.
Wiz was last valued at $12 billion in a private funding round in May 2024.
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DiscoverGold
2 weeks ago
Google introduces new AI models for rapidly growing robotics industry
By: Reuters | March 12, 2025
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s Google launched two new AI models tailored for robotics applications on Wednesday based on its Gemini 2.0 model, as it looks to cater to the rapidly growing robotics industry.
The robotics field has made large strides over the past few years with increasing advancements in AI and improving models, speeding up commercialization of robots largely in industrial settings, according to industry experts.
Google’s launch comes a month after robotics startup Figure AI exited its collaboration agreement with ChatGPT-maker OpenAI after it made an internal breakthrough in AI for robots.
The search engine giant’s Gemini Robotics is an advanced vision-language-action model that will have physical actions as a way to provide output.
The second model, named Gemini Robotics-ER, will enable a robot to have an advanced understanding of the space around it and lets developers run their own programs using reasoning abilities offered by Gemini 2.0.
Google said its models are designed for robots of all form factors including humanoids and other types used in factories and warehouses.
Using robotics-focused AI models developed by the likes of Google and OpenAI can help cash-strapped startups reduce development costs and increase the speed at which they can take their product to market.
Google said it tested the Gemini Robotics model on data from its bi-arm robotics platform, ALOHA 2, but can be specialized for complex use cases such as Apptronik’s Apollo robot.
Apptronik raised $350 million in a funding round last month led by B Capital and Capital Factory, with participation from Google to scale production of AI-powered humanoid robots.
Google had bought robotics pioneer Boston Dynamics in 2013, and sold the company, known for its dog-like and humanoid robots, to SoftBank (TYO:9984) Group Corp about four years later.
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BottomBounce
2 weeks ago
100% Proof of the Firmament! 👀
Explore scientific, photographic, and documentary evidence proving the firmament is real. Discover the truth: Earth is not an infinite plane, concave, or round like a ball, but a non-rotating enclosed circular plane. pic.twitter.com/C4vqdf0gGN— vegastar (@vegastarr) July 5, 2024
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DiscoverGold
2 weeks ago
Alphabet (GOOG) Forecast – Major US Stocks Trying to Bounce
By: Christopher Lewis | March 11, 2025
• GOOG Technical Analysis
Google looks like it will open slightly higher than its previous close, with the $165 level acting as a support floor. The 200-day EMA near the $176 level could serve as a reasonable target for a bounce, but it’s unlikely that price action will cut through it easily. Instead, we may see gradual upward pressure as the stock attempts to form a base. A daily close above the 200-day EMA would be a strong bullish signal for Google, likely confirming the continuation of its uptrend.
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DiscoverGold
1 month ago
$GOOG - Millions worth of bullish, short-dated tech prints just flooded the tape
By: Cheddar Flow | February 18, 2025
• Millions worth of bullish, short-dated tech prints just flooded the tape
$INTC, $AAPL, $AMZN, $GOOG
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DiscoverGold
1 month ago
Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) Chart to Watch for in February 2025
By: David Keller | February 7, 2025
• Our third chart highlights the reality of the Magnificent 7 stocks in early February, with more and more of these previous leadership names beginning to show clear signs of negativity. Earnings season has not been kind to companies like Alphabet, who, despite beating earnings estimates for the quarter, provided a less optimistic forward projection for future earnings growth.
GOOGL gapped lower on Wednesday after making a new all-time high into earnings on Tuesday. After initially finding support at the 50-day moving average, Alphabet broke below the 50-day on Friday's trading session. The gap lower this week also accentuated a bearish momentum divergence, with GOOGL's higher price highs in February marked by a decline in momentum. Higher prices and lower RSI are a common feature of a late stage bull market, when stocks are still moving higher but the momentum behind those gains has begun to wane.
While GOOGL still remains above an upward-sloping 200-day moving average, and still appears to be holding trendline support based on the September and November swing lows, this week's drop on forward guidance certainly has investors wondering where assets could flow if they're no longer supporting mega-cap growth stocks like GOOGL.
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DiscoverGold
2 months ago
$GOOGL Short-term, price looks primed for a bounce, potentially testing $207...
By: Peter DiCarlo | February 6, 2025
• $GOOG Post Earnings Update
$GOOGL dropped 10% post-earnings and is now sitting at a liquidity zone around $190.
Short-term, price looks primed for a bounce, potentially testing $207.
However, zooming out to the weekly chart, (image 2) if the BX Trender closes with a lower high, it usually signals a pullback to weekly market bias, which would put our target around $180.
I’m not looking to short this setup—instead, I’ll stay patient and watch for price to return to market bias, where we typically see a bounce.
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DiscoverGold
2 months ago
Alphabet (GOOGL) Stock Eyes Worst Day Since 2023 After Earnings
By: Schaeffer's Investment Research | February 5, 2025
• The Big Tech giant reported a fourth-quarter revenue miss
• The company doubled down on its artificial intelligence (AI) investments
Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) stock is dragging Wall Street after the Big Tech giant reported a fourth-quarter revenue miss as its Google Cloud segment lagged. The company also revealed plans to invest $75 billion in capital expenditures this year to grow its artificial intelligence (AI) offerings, despite Chinese startup DeepSeek claiming it built an AI model at a substantially lower cost.
GOOGL is down 8.3% to trade at $189.36 at last check, pacing for its biggest single-day percentage loss since October 2023 as it pulls back from yesterday's all-time high of $207.05. The equity is testing a floor at the $188 level that has been in place since late December, with added support at its 60-day moving average set to contain additional losses.
No fewer than 11 analysts have cut their price targets, the lowest from Wells Fargo to $184 from $190. Options traders lean overwhelmingly bullish, however, with GOOGL's 50-day call/put ratio of 3.60 back at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) standing higher than 97% of annual readings.
Drilling down to today's options activity, 287,000 calls and 152,000 puts have crossed the tape, which is five times the volume typically seen at this point. The most active contract is the weekly 2/7 195-strike call, where new positions are currently being bought to open.
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DiscoverGold
2 months ago
Alphabet Earnings Preview: AI-Powered Moves With Leveraged and Inverse ETFs
By: Barchart | January 31, 2025
Alphabet Inc.'s (GOOGL) Q4 2024 earnings report (February 4th after market close) comes amid an aggressive artificial intelligence (AI) expansion. Key areas of focus include AI integration across Search and Cloud platforms, YouTube's advertising momentum, and the recent Gemini model rollout. Investors will also watch for updates on cloud market share gains, Search monetization metrics, and the company's competitive position against Microsoft and Amazon in the AI race.
In addition to these core metrics, market participants are eyeing capital allocation strategies and the impact of AI investments on margins, particularly after last quarter's impressive 33.6% profit growth and continued market share gains in cloud services.
As a central player in the tech sector's AI transformation, GOOGL tends to see substantial volatility around earnings releases. For traders looking to position around these potential price swings, Direxion's Single Stock Daily Leveraged & Inverse ETFs offer specialized tools designed for short-term tactical trading.
What to Expect from Alphabet's Next Earnings Report
Analysts expect Alphabet to deliver earnings of $2.12 per share, representing a significant 29.3% increase from last year's $1.64. The company enters this report with strong momentum, having topped Wall Street's expectations in each of the past four quarters, including last quarter's 15.9% beat. Cloud revenue growth and AI adoption metrics remain key focus areas after the previous quarter's 15.1% total revenue growth to $88.3 billion.
October's Q3 results sparked a 2.8% stock gain as investors cheered the successful integration of AI features across core products and YouTube's milestone achievement of surpassing $50 billion in trailing twelve-month ad and subscription revenues.
Alphabet's Earnings Track Record
The tech giant has demonstrated consistent outperformance, with earnings surprises ranging from 2.50% to a remarkable 26.85% over the past four quarters. The stock's strong reaction to October's results highlighted investor confidence in Alphabet's AI execution, particularly the successful launch of new search features and cloud solutions. The company's 39.7% gain over the past 52 weeks has substantially outpaced both the S&P 500 and its sector peers.
Trading Tools for Alphabet's AI-Driven Momentum
Alphabet's leadership in the AI revolution creates compelling opportunities for short-term traders. Direxion's Single Stock Daily Leveraged & Inverse ETFs, introduced in September 2022, provide ways to attempt to capitalize on GOOGL's price movements without traditional margin requirements or short-selling restrictions...
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Oleblue
2 months ago
Initially celebrated for its groundbreaking speed and unmatched computational power, Willow suddenly became the center of mystery, speculation, and fear. Sources claim that scientists spotted something strange in its final data streams - anomalies that defied explanation. Then, an ethical hacker uncovered something even more chilling: a hidden vulnerability that could change everything we thought we knew about quantum computing and security. Was this an accident, or a glimpse into something far more dangerous?
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