Breakfast News: Alphabet Eyes Wiz (Again)
March 18, 2025
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Monday's Markets |
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| S&P 500 5,675 (+0.64%) |
| Nasdaq 17,809 (+0.31%) |
| Dow 41,842 (+0.85%) |
| Bitcoin $84,083 (+1.22%) |
1. Alphabet Close to Record Acquisition
Longtime Rule Breakers recommendation Alphabet (GOOG 0.56%) is reportedly in advanced talks to buy cybersecurity company Wiz for $30 billion according to the WSJ, in what would be the largest ever deal for the tech giant.
- Over double the price paid for Motorola Mobility in 2012: Alphabet has lagged behind peers when it comes to cloud computing, with the potential purchase seen as a way to entice customers due to the enhanced security the integration with Wiz would provide.
- History with the two parties: Any investor excitement may need to be tempered, as talks between Wiz and Alphabet from last summer over a $23 billion acquisition fell apart. Any handshake this time around would likely take time to pass regulatory hurdles.
2. BYD Wows With Rapid Charging
BYD surged to a record high after revealing a new battery and charging system capable of providing over 400km (245 miles) of range in just five minutes. Being able to charge a car in a similar time to fueling a regular vehicle could be a game changer in convincing drivers to go electric.
- "Fundamentally solve users' charging anxiety": BYD founder Wang Chuanfu explained how speed is key for EV users, with the company committing to building more than 4,000 charging stations across China for the upgraded service.
- BYD had the largest Chinese car market share in 2024: The business continues to grow in China, at a time when rivals like Tesla (TSLA 0.96%) struggle. February sales for BYD jumped 164% versus the year prior, to 322,846 vehicles.
3. Solar Sector Powers Up
Solar stocks enjoyed a great start to the week, partly driven by news on European expansion for Enphase Energy (ENPH +3.39%) as well as benefiting from general positive investor sentiment.
- Taking advantage of continued EV adoption: Hidden Gems rec Enphase closed almost 10% higher as the stock continued to rally following the news last week of production shipments of the newest electric chargers to over a dozen European markets.
- $411k chairman share purchase in early March: SolarEdge (SEDG +6.37%) popped almost 8% on the day, without any company-specific news. Some pointed to recent insider buying as a driver, with others flagging renewed interest in renewable energy giving sectorwide optimism.
4. Microsoft Taps Swiss AI Start-up
A new partnership between Microsoft (MSFT 1.57%) and Swiss start-up inait has been confirmed, with the aim of building a new AI model that simulates our brain's reasoning powers.
- "The only proven form of intelligence is in the brain": Richard Frey, inait CEO, bases the AI models on learning from real-world experiences that a brain can compute, rather than feeding the model with pre-existing data to build knowledge.
- Creating a stickier client base: Microsoft will start to use inait's technology to expand its own AI model offering to customers, hoping to provide greater retention value. It believes financial services and robotics could be two sectors that will benefit the most from this enhancement.
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