Breakfast News: Alphabet Slims Down Focus

Breakfast News: Alphabet Slims Down Focus

1. Alphabet Eyes Verily Spin-Off or Sale

Alphabet (GOOG -1.18%) confirmed it's working to decouple its life sciences unit Verily so that it can be sold or spun off, in a sign of the desire from management to run the conglomerate as a tighter ship.

• "It's no longer something we see as part of our core business": Heather Adkins, VP of securing engineering at Google, explained they are helping Verily become an independent company, although Alphabet is likely to stay as a shareholder in some form.
• Ongoing federal trial around monopolizing advertising technology: The discussion about Verily comes as part of the push from the Justice Department to break up Alphabet's advertising exchange, a move the company argues would harm customers.

2. NVDA UAE Deal Stalls Amid Politics

The WSJ reports Nvidia (NVDA 0.30%) CEO Jensen Huang is frustrated by the lack of progress on a multi-billion dollar deal struck back in May to send chips to the UAE, with political red tape potentially to blame.

• A sign of business and politics not mixing easily: The deal is sitting with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnik, who is pressing UAE counterparts to finalize their U.S. investment commitments before authorizing the delivery of the chips.
• "I'm losing trust in Jensen Huang": Though he stresses that he owns Nvidia stock and has recommended it in several TMF services, Fool analyst Seth Jayson shared that he personally is beginning to "have some pretty serious doubts about the compute promises and revenue figures being thrown about in public" in last Friday's Analyst Stream for Motley Fool members, but noted "few are willing to put those doubts on the record lest they be seen as anything less than an AI superfan."

3. Semis Gain as AI Capex Spend Continues

Semiconductor stocks rallied Thursday thanks to momentum driven by Advanced Micro Devices (AMD -0.27%) signing a multi-year GPU agreement with IBM (IBM 2.13%), with new sector investment deals occurring almost constantly.

• A rising tide lifts all boats: AMD stock closed 3.4% higher, with Marvell Technology (MRVL -0.26%) up 2.7% and Nvidia up almost 1%, as the AI poster child closes in on fresh all-time highs.
• Winners and losers from the AI capex boom: Fool analyst Nick Sciple recently made a good point that "unlike historical infrastructure buildouts, GPUs only last a few years before needing to be replaced with the latest and greatest tech. Investors in adjacent sectors – semiconductors, utilities, industrial contractors – must ask: is this capex wave a sustainable trend or a temporary spike?"

4. Gold Eyes $4K on Shutdown

Gold is set to post a seventh-straight weekly gain as it continues to post record highs and closes in on $4,000 per oz, with further 'safe-haven buying' noted around the U.S. government shutdown and labor market concern.

• Gold stocks outperform with 135% gain this year: A gauge of the world's gold stocks from MSCI has jumped 135% in 2025, beating the same index compiled for major global semiconductor firms, which is up 40%.
• "Gold and gold miners are one of my most bullish medium thematic calls": Anna Wu, cross-asset investment strategist at Van Eck Associates, believes the precious metal miners could benefit further from profit margin expansion.

4. Your Take

Outside of the Magnificent Seven, what's a company whose commitment to AI has led to it becoming a mainstay in your portfolio? Share a few words with friends and family explaining how you think its adoption of AI can cement its position as a market leader in its industry, or become a member to hear what your fellow Fools are saying.