Baidu, Inc. engages in the provision of internet search services in China. It operates through two segments: Baidu Core and iQIYI. The company offers Baidu App to access search, feed, and other services using mobile devices; Baidu Search to access its search and other services; Baidu Feed that provides users with personalized timeline based on their demographics and interests; Baidu Health that helps users to find the doctor and hospital for healthcare needs; and Haokan, a short video app. It also provides Baidu Knows, an online community where users can ask questions to other users; Baidu Wiki; Baidu Experience; Baidu Post; ERNIE Bot, conversational AI bot; Baidu Wenku; Baidu Maps, a voice-enabled mobile app that provides travel-related services; Baidu Drive; Baijiahao; and DuerOS, a smart assistant platform. In addition, it offers online marketing services, which include pay for performance, an auction-based services that allow customers to bid for priority placement of paid sponsored links and reach users who search for information related to their products or services; other marketing services that include display-based marketing services and other online marketing services based on performance criteria other than cost per click; mobile ecosystem, a portfolio of apps, including Baidu App, Haokan, and Baidu Post; various cloud services and solutions, such as platform as a service, software as a service, and infrastructure as a service; self-driving services, including maps, automated valet parking, navigation pilot, electric vehicles, and robotaxi fleets, as well as Xiaodu smart devices. Further, the company provides iQIYI, an online entertainment service, including original and licensed content; other video content and membership; and online advertising services. It has strategic partnership with Zhejiang Geely Holding Group. The company was formerly known as Baidu.com, Inc. Baidu, Inc. was incorporated in 2000 and is headquartered in Beijing, China.

Baidu’s strong balance sheet is coupled with a noticeable weakening in operating profitability, and that is what currently determines the quality of the valuation. The company trades at a low P/B and a moderate P/S, which looks supportive from a value perspective, but the P/S is already above the industry median, so the market is not assigning a pronounced discount to revenue. P/E and P/FCF on a TTM basis look uninformative because of zero values, and historically the multiples have been volatile, which makes the valuation more cautious. Liquidity is generally acceptable: the current ratio is above the industry median, debt to equity is low, and the cash position remains large relative to liabilities. At the same time, the quick ratio is zero, indicating weak immediate liquidity and requiring attention to the composition of current assets. The weakest area is efficiency: ROE, ROA, ROI, and return on tangible capital are sharply below industry benchmarks and have deteriorated noticeably compared with the stronger quarters of last year. Net profit margin and operating margin have also declined, with operating margin in recent periods effectively disappearing, which puts pressure on fair value. Gross margin remains positive and relatively stable, but its trend is also downward, limiting the potential for profit recovery without cost improvement. Revenue and gross profit remain large in absolute terms, but the trend does not show sustained acceleration, while EBITDA and operating profit appear uneven from quarter to quarter. Net income remains positive, but its scale and stability are insufficient to justify an aggressive upward revision. Long-term debt is moderate and does not look critical, but the growth in liabilities against the backdrop of weak profitability reduces the margin of safety. The company does not pay dividends, so shareholder returns depend entirely on business re-rating and improvement in operating metrics. Overall, the fundamentals support a cautiously positive view of the balance sheet and assets, but weak profitability and deteriorating efficiency outweigh that, so a moderate conservative downward adjustment is appropriate.

Baidu, Inc.

Сильный индекс, значительно упал. Быки в растерянности.

Strong index, significantly down. The bulls are confused.

Сильный индекс, значительно упал. Оптимистичный взгляд на свои позиции резко сменился на неуверенность.

Strong index, significantly down. An optimistic view of his position suddenly changed to uncertainty.

Сильный индекс, без изменений. Рынок не поддерживает быков.

Strong index, flat. The market does not support the bulls.

Сильный индекс, без изменений. Рынок на стороне медведей.

Strong index, flat. The market is on the bears' side.

Средний индекс, незначительно вырос. Отток средств из лонгов снизился, но остается значительным.

Medium index, slightly up. The outflow of funds from longs has decreased, but remains significant.

Средний индекс, незначительно упал. Приток средств в шорты снизился, но остается положительным.

Medium index, slightly down. The inflow of funds into shorts has decreased, but remains positive.

Strong balance sheet and low P/B support the case, but declining profitability, weak margins, and uneven earnings limit revaluation potential.

For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL – July 27, 2026 – Zacks Equity Research shares Corsair Gaming CRSR as the Bull of the Day and AngloGold Ashanti AU as the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on Alphabet GOOGL, Microsoft MSFT and Baidu BIDU.
Here is a synopsis of all five stocks.
Corsair Gaming is a Zack Rank #1 (Strong Buy) that has quietly morphed from a pandemic-hangover gaming stock into a turnaround story. Shares have ripped from roughly $5.50 in mid-February to north of $10 just this past week.
Investors are riding an AI-infrastructure narrative, giving the stock a new growth leg. With that, the stock is on verge of a technical breakout, along with earnings estimates moving in the right direction into earnings print.
About the Company
Corsair is best known to gamers for its keyboards, mice, headsets and PC components, but that's only half the story now.
The Gamer and Creator Peripherals segment covers keyboards, mice, headsets, capture cards, Stream Decks and USB mics (largely under the Elgato brand), while the Gaming Components and Systems segment builds power supplies, cooling solutions, cases, DRAM and prebuilt/custom gaming PCs.
The company also owns Fanatec, the sim-racing gear maker that just signed a licensing deal with Nissan.
The real catalyst for the stock, though, is Corsair's pivot into AI infrastructure. In May the company launched CORSAIR PRO, a lineup of AI workstations and on-prem servers built on Nvidia's Grace Blackwell platform, aimed at businesses that want in-house AI compute instead of renting cloud capacity.
The company is valued at $1 billion and has a Forward PE of 14. The stock has Zacks Style Scores of “B” in Value and “A” in Growth.
The Beat That Changed the Story
Back in May, Corsair posted Q1 EPS of $0.27 against a $0.18 estimate, a beat of 50%. While revenue came in essentially in line at $354.5 million, Adjusted EBITDA nearly tripled year-over-year to $35.8 million. Margins jumped to 10.1% from 6.1%, and management pointed to a record first-quarter gross margin of 32.7% as evidence of a genuine shift toward higher-margin products rather than a one-off.
What makes this more than a good quarter is what came next: Corsair reaffirmed full-year guidance of $0.58-$0.74 EPS even after blowing past Q1 numbers. Management stayed conservative, blaming semiconductor and memory tightness that won't ease until 2027, and that kind of caution after a 50% beat usually sets up future estimates to move higher.
Gamer and Creator Peripherals is the clean growth engine, with management calling it "structural, not cyclical,". Stream Deck is expanding across product lines and Elgato's marketplace posting double-digit sequential growth. Gaming Components and Systems is tougher, still working through a non-GPU upgrade cycle, but even there Q1 gross profit rose while revenue fell.
Estimates Head Higher
Analysts have revised EPS estimates higher across the board over the past 60 days.
Full-year consensus has climbed from $0.69 ninety days ago to $0.73 today, while next year's estimate sits at $0.74. The current quarter has moved from $0.06 to $0.07 over that same stretch.
Roth Capital initiated coverage on July 22 with a Buy and a $15 price target, and B. Riley reiterated its rating the next day while raising its target to $9 from $7.50. Barclays (Overweight, $9) and Wedbush (Outperform, $8) have both lifted targets since May.
The Technical Take
The big move back in May gives traders a nice setup when looking at the Fibonacci levels. Drawing from March lows to May highs, we see the 61.8% level around $8 showed significant support. Traders can lean on this level or some of the moving averages levels below:
21-day: $9.45
50-day: $9.05
200-day: $6.95
Looking at the upside, the stock would need to clear the $11.15 level, which would give 161.8% Fibonacci extension targets at $16.
In Summary
Corsair checks the boxes value investors want in a Bull of the Day: a Zacks Rank #1 with estimates moving higher across every timeframe, a stock breaking out technically with room to run toward that $16 extension target, and a fundamental story — the AI-infrastructure pivot layered on top of a genuine margin transformation — that's just getting picked up by the sell side. With earnings due July 30, this is a name worth having on the radar heading into the print.
AngloGold Ashanti is a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell) that is experiencing the flip side of the gold trade. The stock rode bullion's historic run to a 52-week high of $132 earlier this year, but shares have since slid to the $80 area.
Gold itself has cooled from January's record near $5,626 an ounce to around $4,000-$4,100 today. When the metal you dig out of the ground does the heavy lifting for your earnings, a 25%-plus pullback in that metal shows up fast in the numbers.
About the Company
AngloGold Ashanti is a global gold miner with operations across Africa, Australia and the Americas, anchored by its flagship Geita mine in Tanzania.
It's a straightforward business model: dig up gold, sell it near the spot price, and let the metal's direction drive the P&L far more than any operational lever management pulls. That's been a gift over the past two years as gold roughly tripled off its 2020 lows, but it cuts both ways when the price turns.
The Quarter Behind the Beat
AngloGold's last reported quarter looked strong on the surface, with EPS of $2.52 beating estimates by about 14%. Earnings were up 186% year-over-year, with a record $1.169 billion in free cash flow.
But revenue of $3.15 billion missed the $3.34 billion consensus. This is because gold production held roughly flat at 724,000 ounces, gold actually sold fell to 719,000 ounces from 737,000 a year earlier, partly due to the December 2025 sale of the Serra Grande mine.
Costs also crept higher, with total cash costs rising to $1,391/oz from $1,223/oz. This means the bottom-line beat leaned entirely on price, not on selling more gold or running a leaner operation. Management still funded a record $1.16/share dividend and a new $2.0 billion buyback, but this will become harder to repeat if the gold price that drove it keeps sliding.
Estimates Rolling Over
Analyst estimates have been revised lower across the board over the past 30 and 60 days.
The current-year EPS consensus has come down to $8.23 from $9.26 sixty days ago, and next year's estimate has fallen to $7.62 from $8.86 over the same stretch.
Current-quarter estimates have slipped to $2.02 from $2.16.
With that some analysts are lowering price targets, including JPMorgan which took its target to $134 from $155.
Technicals
The stock has had a big run since 2024, moving from $20 to $130, recently falling to $80. The good news is the stock has held the halfway back level at $75. The bad news is if gold falls lower, the stock could see a full 61.8% Fibonacci retrace down to the $63 area.
The moving averages will likely offer resistance above, so watch the 50-day ay $86 and the 200-day at $90 for selling.
In Summary
AngloGold Ashanti is a well-run miner in a tough spot: its entire 2026 earnings story has been a gold-price story, and that price has cooled meaningfully off its highs. With estimates trending lower across every timeframe this is a name where the risk looks tilted to the downside into upcoming earnings.
For investors who like their risk-reward balanced, the Zacks Rank #5 says look elsewhere.
Additional content:
Oil Below $70: Buy These 2 Refiners Before the Next Rally
GOOGL Bets on AI to Defend Search Leadership: More Upside Ahead?
Alphabet’s Search-related endeavors have received a massive push through AI integrations. The company is leading the search domain with 91.27% market share, followed by Microsoft’s Bing, with 4.68% share, Yahoo!’s 1.28%, Yandex’s 0.79%, DuckDuckGo’s 0.67% and Baidu’s 0.46%, per the latest data from StatCounter.
Alphabet’s dominance is being reinforced by rapid AI innovation rather than disrupted by it. On the second-quarter 2026earnings call the company highlighted that AI Overviews and AI Mode have been integrated into a single seamless Search experience, helping drive higher user engagement and incremental search queries. AI Mode has already surpassed one billion monthly active users, while Google continues to send billions of clicks to websites every week through its AI-powered search features, addressing concerns that AI could reduce web traffic.
Search monetization also remains strong. Google Search & Other revenues climbed 17% year over year to $63.3 billion, driven primarily by retail and finance advertisers. Alphabet noted that Gemini-powered improvements in query understanding allow Google to better monetize longer, more complex searches by delivering more relevant advertisements. AI-powered advertising products such as AI Max are already being widely adopted, with advertisers using these tools seeing higher conversions at similar returns on ad spend.
Alphabet is also expanding Search beyond traditional web queries into an AI-powered productivity platform. The company recently introduced integrations that allow users to connect services such as Instacart, Canva and YouTube Music directly within AI Mode, enabling actions like creating shopping carts, generating design templates and building playlists without leaving Search. These capabilities deepen user engagement while making Google’s ecosystem more valuable and difficult for competitors to replicate.
GOOGL Faces Tough Competition in the Search Domain
Alphabet faces competition from Microsoft and Baidu in the Search domain.
Microsoft is strengthening its search ecosystem through Bing and Edge by embedding advanced AI capabilities across its consumer products. Microsoft is also integrating proprietary AI models into Bing, improving image generation, speech recognition and search experiences while benefiting from broader investments in Copilot, Azure AI and its multi-model strategy. These enhancements are designed to increase user engagement, improve search relevance and capture a larger share of digital advertising, creating a stronger competitive challenge for Google in AI-powered search.
Baidu is also accelerating its AI-first search strategy, particularly in China. The company has highlighted continued improvements in AI Search through enhanced planning, content generation and content-quality evaluation, enabling more intelligent and higher-quality search results while reducing low-quality content. Baidu plans to further integrate AI Search with ERNIE Assistant to improve information discovery, content understanding and task completion. The company has also reiterated that AI Search remains one of its highest-priority applications and will continue to receive investments to strengthen search accuracy and user experience.
GOOGL’s Share Price Performance, Valuation & Estimates
Alphabet shares have returned 1.5% year to date (YTD), outperforming the broader Zacks Computer and Technology sector’s return of 10.8%.
GOOGL stock is trading at a premium, with a forward 12-month price/sales of 8.07X compared with the broader sector’s 6.46X. Alphabet has a Value Score of D.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2026 earnings is pegged at $14.34 per share, up 0.3% over the past 30 days, suggesting 32.65% growth from 2025’s reported figure.
Alphabet currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
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Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss.This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index.Visit https://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.
Zacks' Research Chief Names "Stock Most Likely to Double"
Our team of experts has just released the 5 stocks with the greatest probability of gaining +100% or more in the coming months. Of those 5, Director of Research Sheraz Mian highlights the one stock set to climb highest.
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Corsair Gaming and AngloGold Ashanti have been highlighted as Zacks Bull and Bear of the Day

Key Points
Apple's AI strategy has far less risk than those of its rivals.
The tech leader has found smart ways to benefit from AI without incurring massive costs.
Shares of Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) climbed to near record highs on Friday, as investors applauded the iPhone maker's relatively modest artificial intelligence (AI) investments.
Missed Nvidia in 2009? This Rare Signal Is Flashing Again. In 2009, a "Double Down" signal flashed for a little-known chipmaker called Nvidia. For the first time in years, that same "Total Conviction" signal is flashing for a company 1/100th the size of Nvidia. Continue »
Apple's conservative strategy is looking smarter by the minute
Hyperscalers and other tech giants are spending staggering sums to build out their artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure networks. For just two examples, Amazon and Alphabet are planning to spend a stunning $200 billion each in 2026 alone.
Investors are beginning to question whether these massive capital expenditures will produce the type of returns they've grown accustomed to. Moreover, fears are mounting that the AI boom could be expanding into a bubble. Bubbles eventually burst -- and often lead to a crash.
You don't always need to spend money to make money
Rather than spending hundreds of billions of dollars in a futile attempt to keep pace with the latest AI advances, Apple is partnering with other AI leaders to bring the products of their massive spending to its customers.
Apple has partnered with Alphabet, Nvidia, and OpenAI to bolster the AI features on its iPhones and other devices. It's also working with Chinese internet giants Alibaba and Baidu to offer AI-powered services in China.
This collaborative approach is prudent and cost-efficient. In turn, savvy investors are beginning to appreciate Apple's AI strategy more each passing day.
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

Why Apple Stock Is Up Today

Alphabet’s GOOGL Search-related endeavors have received a massive push through AI integrations. The company is leading the search domain with 91.27% market share, followed by Microsoft’s MSFT Bing, with 4.68% share, Yahoo!’s 1.28%, Yandex’s 0.79%, DuckDuckGo’s 0.67% and Baidu’s BIDU 0.46%, per the latest data from StatCounter.
Alphabet’s dominance is being reinforced by rapid AI innovation rather than disrupted by it. On the second-quarter 2026earnings call the company highlighted that AI Overviews and AI Mode have been integrated into a single seamless Search experience, helping drive higher user engagement and incremental search queries. AI Mode has already surpassed one billion monthly active users, while Google continues to send billions of clicks to websites every week through its AI-powered search features, addressing concerns that AI could reduce web traffic.
Search monetization also remains strong. Google Search & Other revenues climbed 17% year over year to $63.3 billion, driven primarily by retail and finance advertisers. Alphabet noted that Gemini-powered improvements in query understanding allow Google to better monetize longer, more complex searches by delivering more relevant advertisements. AI-powered advertising products such as AI Max are already being widely adopted, with advertisers using these tools seeing higher conversions at similar returns on ad spend.
Alphabet is also expanding Search beyond traditional web queries into an AI-powered productivity platform. The company recently introduced integrations that allow users to connect services such as Instacart, Canva and YouTube Music directly within AI Mode, enabling actions like creating shopping carts, generating design templates and building playlists without leaving Search. These capabilities deepen user engagement while making Google’s ecosystem more valuable and difficult for competitors to replicate.
GOOGL Faces Tough Competition in the Search Domain
Alphabet faces competition from Microsoft and Baidu in the Search domain.
Microsoft is strengthening its search ecosystem through Bing and Edge by embedding advanced AI capabilities across its consumer products. Microsoft is also integrating proprietary AI models into Bing, improving image generation, speech recognition and search experiences while benefiting from broader investments in Copilot, Azure AI and its multi-model strategy. These enhancements are designed to increase user engagement, improve search relevance and capture a larger share of digital advertising, creating a stronger competitive challenge for Google in AI-powered search.
Baidu is also accelerating its AI-first search strategy, particularly in China. The company has highlighted continued improvements in AI Search through enhanced planning, content generation and content-quality evaluation, enabling more intelligent and higher-quality search results while reducing low-quality content. Baidu plans to further integrate AI Search with ERNIE Assistant to improve information discovery, content understanding and task completion. The company has also reiterated that AI Search remains one of its highest-priority applications and will continue to receive investments to strengthen search accuracy and user experience.
GOOGL’s Share Price Performance, Valuation & Estimates
Alphabet shares have returned 1.5% year to date (YTD), outperforming the broader Zacks Computer and Technology sector’s return of 10.8%.
GOOGL Stock’s Price Performance
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
GOOGL stock is trading at a premium, with a forward 12-month price/sales of 8.07X compared with the broader sector’s 6.46X. Alphabet has a Value Score of D.
GOOGL Valuation
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2026 earnings is pegged at $14.34 per share, up 0.3% over the past 30 days, suggesting 32.65% growth from 2025’s reported figure.
Alphabet Inc. Price and Consensus
Alphabet currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

GOOGL Bets on AI to Defend Search Leadership: More Upside Ahead?

For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL – July 22, 2026 – Zacks Equity Research shares Kronos Worldwide KRO as the Bull of the Day and Baidu BIDU as the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on Freeport-McMoRan Inc. FCX, Southern Copper Corp. SCCO and BHP Group Ltd. BHP.
Here is a synopsis of all five stocks:
Sometimes the best opportunities emerge in industries that investors have all but forgotten. While everyone is so engrossed in the AI trade and all the suppliers around it, there are plenty of names that have fallen by the wayside. Among them is today's Bull of the Day, a stock with solid earnings growth that's flying under the radar.
I'm talking about Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) Kronos Worldwide. Kronos Worldwide is one of the world's leading producers of titanium dioxide, the white pigment found in everything from paint and plastics to paper and coatings. After enduring several difficult years of weak industrial demand and pricing pressure, the cycle appears to be turning, and Kronos is well positioned to benefit.
The biggest catalyst is improving demand across key end markets. As manufacturing activity stabilizes globally and housing-related demand gradually recovers, customers are beginning to rebuild inventories after an extended period of destocking. Titanium dioxide pricing has also shown signs of firming, giving Kronos the opportunity to expand margins after several quarters of compressed profitability. For a cyclical business like KRO, even modest pricing improvements can have an outsized impact on earnings.
Lower raw material and energy costs provide another tailwind. Kronos has spent the past few years navigating elevated input costs that squeezed margins despite relatively stable sales volumes. As those inflationary pressures ease, more revenue should flow directly to the bottom line. The company doesn't need explosive sales growth to generate meaningful earnings leverage.
The reason for the favorable Zacks Rank is earnings estimates from analysts are coming in to the upside. Over the last sixty days, analysts have upped the ante for the current year and next year. That's put our Zacks Consensus Estimate for this year to a 33-cent loss while next year's number swings to a profit of 17 cents. That's on revenue growth forecasts of 8.8% this year to $2.02 billion. That puts Price-to-Sales down at just 0.40x, a discount to the industry average closer to 0.80x.
Today's Bear of the Day is a stock that actually looks great on paper. The problem is, for whatever reason, there has been a continued discount priced into the stock due to risks far beyond the company's control. It operates in a high-margin, high-growth area of the market but because it's in China, the US investor simply has not gotten on board.
I'm talking about Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell) Baidu. Baidu is in the Internet – Services industry that actually ranks in the Top 40% of our Zacks Industry Rank. Baidu has long been viewed as China's answer to Google, but that comparison has become increasingly difficult to justify.
While the company remains dominant in Chinese search, the business that once generated dependable cash flow is no longer the growth engine it used to be. China's advertising market remains sluggish, businesses continue to spend cautiously, and competition from short-form video platforms and AI-powered search alternatives is steadily eroding Baidu's core franchise. Investors hoping AI would reignite growth have instead watched revenue remain largely stagnant while margins come under pressure.
The company's AI ambitions are substantial, but they're also expensive. Baidu has poured billions into its ERNIE large language model, autonomous driving platform Apollo, and AI cloud infrastructure. Unfortunately, those investments have yet to generate the kind of returns that justify the spending. Meanwhile, rivals including Alibaba, Tencent, ByteDance, and DeepSeek continue to intensify the AI arms race, making it increasingly difficult for Baidu to establish a durable competitive advantage. In AI, being first doesn't necessarily mean winning.
Over the course of the last week alone, two analysts have dropped their earnings estimates for the current year and next year. The bearish moves have pushed down our Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year from $8.37 to $6.82 while next year's number is off from $10.63 to $9.29.
Additional content:
Watch These 3 Copper Stocks Amid Massive Global AI Data Center Boom
Copper prices started 2026 on a strong note, supported by demand from electric vehicles, renewable energy projects, data center growth and grid modernization. At present, data centers account for a mere 1% of global copper demand. However, the astonishing growth of the artificial intelligence (AI)-powered data centers could change the entire landscape dramatically in the near future.
Copper is an essential component of the AI ecosystem including electrical wiring in data centers, power grids, transformers and transmission infrastructure. An AI-led data center consumes 10 times more copper than a conventional data center.
The four major hyperscalers raised their AI capital expenditure budget to $750 billion for 2026. This figure is set to cross $1 trillion next year and is likely to rise further beyond 2027. Moody's estimated more than $3 trillion in capital investment for AI data centers by these four giant hyperscalers in the next five years.
At this stage, we have narrowed our search to three big copper producers for investment with a long term approach. The companies are: Freeport-McMoRan Inc., Southern Copper Corp. and BHP Group Ltd.. Each of these stocks currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Freeport-McMoRan Inc.
Freeport-McMoRan is conducting exploration activities near existing mines to expand reserves. It is expected to gain from progress in exploration activities that will boost production capacity.
FCX is executing several smelter projects in Indonesia. FCX is also well-positioned to benefit from automotive electrification, which is a positive for copper, as electric vehicles are copper-intensive. The company's efforts to reduce debt are also encouraging. FCX's solid financial health also bodes well.
Freeport-McMoRan has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 9.5% and 51.4%, respectively, for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year's earnings has improved 7.6% in the last 30 days.
Southern Copper Corp.
Southern Copper's investment case is strengthened by its industry-leading copper reserves, expanding project pipeline and favorable long-term demand for copper and key by-products. SCCO is advancing more than $20.5 billion of investments across Peru and Mexico, creating a visible path to higher production over the next decade.
An expected grade recovery, continued progress at Tía María and a tight copper market support an optimistic outlook, with SCCO positioned to deliver sustained growth and attractive shareholder returns.
Southern Copper has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 26.6% and 46.6%, respectively, for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year's earnings has improved 3.9% in the last 30 days.
BHP Group Ltd.
BHP Group remains a high-quality diversified miner with leadership in iron ore and growing leverage to copper and potash. Recent updates point to resilient iron ore volumes despite weather disruption, strong execution at Escondida and Copper South Australia, as well as progress on Jansen logistics ahead of production.
BHP's strategic shift toward future-facing commodities like copper and potash positions it well to benefit from global decarbonization and trends. Strong cash generation, efforts to lower debt and portfolio actions support funding flexibility.
BHP's technology partnerships in haulage, conveyors, copper leaching and renewable energy support efficiency, safety and decarbonization efforts. BHP's low-cost iron ore base, an expanding copper pipeline and long-life Jansen potash project provide durable growth avenues.
BHP Group has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 12.6% and 43.7%, respectively, for the current year (ending June 2027). The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year's earnings has improved 1.2% in the last 60 days.
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Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss.This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performancefor information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.
Beyond Nvidia: AI's Second Wave Is Here
The AI revolution has already minted millionaires. But the stocks everyone knows about aren't likely to keep delivering the biggest profits. AI’s second wave is moving from infrastructure to implementation and these companies are at the forefront of this transition, positioned to become what Amazon and Google were to the internet era.
See Stocks Now >>
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

Kronos Worldwide and Baidu have been highlighted as Zacks Bull and Bear of the Day

Key Points
Innovative new tech could bring the power of advanced AI models to the iPhone.
Partnerships with Chinese cloud leaders will help Apple bring AI services to its largest international market.
Shares of Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) jumped to a record high on Wednesday, following some positive developments for the tech titan.
Missed Nvidia in 2009? This Rare Signal Is Flashing Again. In 2009, a "Double Down" signal flashed for a little-known chipmaker called Nvidia. For the first time in years, that same "Total Conviction" signal is flashing for a company 1/100th the size of Nvidia. Continue »
More AI models could be coming to the iPhone
On Tuesday, CNBC reported that Apple was evaluating innovative technology that could shrink large artificial intelligence (AI) models to run directly on an iPhone.
PrismML, a tiny Silicon Valley start-up, licenses the technology from the California Institute of Technology. PrismML CEO Babak Hassibi said Apple is testing the tech's performance on its devices.
If those tests prove successful, Apple could bring the power of advanced AI models to iPhone users. It could also help Apple reduce its cloud computing costs if AI applications can run directly on its devices.
And on Wednesday, news broke that the Cyberspace Administration of China would allow Apple to provide AI services in the populous country.
Chinese e-commerce and cloud giant Alibaba will integrate its Qwen AI model into Apple Intelligence. Baidu, China's internet search leader, will also work with Apple to develop AI features for its devices.
Apple's AI strategy is emerging
Apple has largely stayed out of the AI model race, much to the benefit of its shareholders.
Rather than spending tens and even hundreds of billions of dollars to compete with model makers like OpenAI and Anthropic or hyperscalers like Google and Meta Platforms, Apple has sought to partner with AI leaders to bring their innovations to its users.
It's a smart, cost-effective strategy. And these recent developments are beginning to show that Apple can still benefit from AI without incurring massive costs.
Should you buy stock in Apple right now?
Before you buy stock in Apple, consider this:
The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Apple wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.
Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $396,542!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,299,961!*
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*Stock Advisor returns as of July 15, 2026.
Joe Tenebruso has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Apple, Baidu, and Meta Platforms. The Motley Fool recommends Alibaba Group. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

Why Apple Stock Climbed to a New All-Time High Today

Key Points
A growing number of analysts are raising their expectations of August’s fiscal Q1 results.
Today’s jump also allows investors to look at recent headlines in a new, more bullish light.
The sizeable gains logged by this stock and several of its peers suggest a sweeping, prolonged reversal of recent bearish sentiment could have just begun.
Most of China's top technology stocks are participating in Wednesday's broad turnaround. Leading the charge, however, is Alibaba Group (NYSE: BABA). As of 12:22 p.m. ET shares of the e-commerce giant are up 11.2%... its best day in nearly a year.
Thank UBS, mostly, although several different developments are contributing to the bullish effort.
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Analysts provide the catalyst
Down by nearly half since its October peak, BABA shares started today's trading session already ripe for a rebound. UBS's Kenneth Fong triggered it, though, noting on Wednesday that the company likely produced marginwidening revenue growth during the quarter ending in June, led by 45% top-line growth from its cloud computing unit. Most analysts expect to see accelerating revenue growth in August's release of the company's fiscal Q1 results, in fact, largely driven by growth of its artificial intelligence business. Jefferies' analysts also added this morning "macro headwinds and softness in consumer sentiment are in the price."
Analysts' fresh optimism regarding Alibaba isn't the only bullish factor at work on Wednesday, however. Although it's not company-specific, similar gains from shares of other Chinese tech names like Baidu (NASDAQ: BIDU) and JD.com (NASDAQ: JD) point to a broad turnaround effort for most of the region's beaten-down technology stocks.
This tailwind also allows investors to look at recent news about Alibaba through a more bullish lens. This includes Monday's decision from a U.S. federal judge to block -- albeit only temporarily -- the Pentagon from designating Alibaba as a Chinese military company under its Section 1260H rules, which would prevent it from lobbying within the United States.
A hint worth taking for risk-tolerant investors
A big day like today is a tough act to follow. As such, don't be surprised if BABA shares show some weakness as soon as Thursday.
Just don't lose perspective on the way this stock and its peers ebb and flow. Most artificial intelligence stocks tend to move as a herd as the sentiment surrounding the AI revolution evolves. Rather than lasting a mere single day, these moves can last weeks, if not months. They often simply start with that one decisive reversal of an aging trend... like today's bounce from a pullback that began months ago.
Should you buy stock in Alibaba Group right now?
Before you buy stock in Alibaba Group, consider this:
The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Alibaba Group wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.
Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $410,833!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,208,693!*
Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 917% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 209% for the S&P 500. Don't miss the latest top 10 list, available with Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built by individual investors for individual investors.
*Stock Advisor returns as of July 8, 2026.
James Brumley has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Baidu and Jefferies Financial Group. The Motley Fool recommends Alibaba Group and JD.com. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

Why Alibaba Stock Is Rallying Today

An updated edition of the April 22, 2026, article.
The global automotive industry is undergoing one of the biggest transformations in its history, fueled by the rapid adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) and advances in autonomous vehicle (AV) driving technology. As battery technology improves, driving ranges increase and charging networks become more widespread, EVs are becoming a practical choice for a growing number of consumers. At the same time, high fuel prices amid the Middle East conflict are strengthening the economic case for electric cars.
For much of the past decade, Tesla TSLA was viewed as the undisputed leader in the EV market. However, the competitive landscape has changed significantly. Chinese automakers, led by BYD, have emerged as formidable competitors, while established global automakers are investing billions of dollars to accelerate their own electrification strategies. Meanwhile, a wave of new EV-focused companies is entering the market, intensifying competition and giving consumers more choices than ever before.
The shift toward electric mobility continues to gain momentum globally. Per International Energy Agency, EV sales rose 20% year over year to surpass 20 million units in 2025, accounting for roughly one in every four new vehicles sold worldwide. Global EV sales are projected to reach 23 million units in 2026, representing approximately 28% of all new vehicle sales. Europe is expected to be one of the fastest-growing regions, where nearly one-third of new cars sold could be electric by 2026. China, already the world's largest EV market, is also expected to see continued growth, with electric vehicles approaching 60% of total vehicle sales.
Beyond electrification, autonomous driving is emerging as the industry's next major growth opportunity. Advances in artificial intelligence, sensors, cameras, and vehicle connectivity are steadily improving the capabilities of self-driving systems. The global autonomous vehicle market, valued at $3.36 trillion in 2025, is expected to reach $4.44 trillion in 2026 and $41.75 trillion by 2034, at a compound annual growth rate of 32.3% during 2026-2034, according to Fortune Business Insights. Companies like Alphabet’s GOOGL Waymo and Baidu BIDU are key players in this space.
For investors, EVs and AVs represent a strong long-term opportunity. They combine growth, innovation and rising demand. Our Electric Vehicles & Autonomous Driving Screen highlights companies positioned to benefit from these trends, including NIO Inc. NIO, WeRide Inc. WRD, Lithium Americas Corp. LAC and ChargePoint Holdings, Inc. CHPT.
Ready to uncover more transformative thematic investment ideas? Explore 37 cutting-edge investment themes with Zacks Thematic Investing Screens and discover your next big opportunity.
4 Stocks to Buy
NIO: The companyappears to be entering a more promising phase of its growth story, supported by accelerating vehicle deliveries, a broader product portfolio and improving operational discipline. The Chinese EV maker has regained momentum in recent quarters as demand for its vehicles strengthens and newer models gain traction in the market.
A key driver of this growth is NIO's expanding lineup. At the premium end, the recently launched ES9 is expected to further strengthen NIO's position. The model builds on the success of ES8, which has consistently been one of the best-selling vehicles in China's high-end automotive segment. The company’s sub-brands, Onvo and Firefly, are helping it target different customer segments and price points, broadening its addressable market.
Beyond top-line growth, NIO is becoming a more efficient business. Management has been implementing a more decentralized operating structure aimed at improving cost controls and capital allocation. These efforts are already showing up in improving vehicle margins. More importantly, the company reported its first-ever quarterly profit in the fourth quarter of 2025, a milestone that suggests its long-standing path toward profitability is finally becoming more visible.
NIO's battery-swapping ecosystem remains one of its biggest competitive advantages. With nearly 4,000 battery swap stations and an extensive charging network, the company offers a level of convenience that few rivals can match. NIO is also working to monetize its advanced driver assistance technologies through subscription-based services. If successful, this could create a recurring, higher-margin revenue stream and reduce the company's dependence on vehicle sales alone, providing another avenue for long-term growth.NIO currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
WeRide: It is emerging as one of the most advanced and globally diversified players in the autonomous driving industry. WeRide has already deployed autonomous vehicles in more than 40 cities across 12 countries, giving it an early lead in commercial operations. Through its WeRide One system, the company offers solutions ranging from Level 2 to Level 4 autonomy, serving mobility, public transportation, logistics and sanitation markets. This diversified approach allows WeRide to participate in multiple growth opportunities as autonomous technology gains wider adoption.
The company is also making steady progress in commercializing its technology. In China, WeRide operates Level 4 robotaxis in Shanghai through partnerships with Chery Group and Jinjiang Taxi, connecting major transportation hubs and popular destinations. Internationally, its Robobus service is already operating in locations such as Singapore, Paris and Riyadh, demonstrating the growing real-world use of autonomous transportation for last-mile mobility.
What sets WeRide apart is the breadth of its global footprint. The company is the only autonomous driving technology provider with permits across eight markets, including China, the United States and several countries in Europe and the Middle East. It continues to expand its European presence through projects in France, Switzerland, Belgium, Spain and Slovakia. Notably, its partnership with Uber to launch Spain's first commercial robotaxi service later this year marks another important step toward broader commercialization.
As AVs move closer to mainstream adoption, WeRide's combination of early-mover advantage, regulatory approvals and expanding commercial deployments positions it to benefit from one of the most significant technological shifts reshaping the transportation industry. WRD currently carries a Zacks Rank #2.
Lithium Americas: The company offers investors a way to gain exposure to one of the most important materials underpinning the future of EVs. As EV adoption continues to grow, demand for lithium—which is a key component of batteries— is expected to rise steadily over the coming years.
At the center of Lithium Americas' growth story is the Thacker Pass project in Nevada, which hosts the largest known lithium resource in the United States. The project is strategically important because it can help reduce the country's reliance on imported lithium while supporting the expansion of domestic battery manufacturing. Once fully operational, Thacker Pass is expected to produce up to 40,000 tons of lithium carbonate annually, enough to supply batteries for roughly 800,000 electric vehicles.
The project is advancing steadily toward production. Phase 1 remains on track, with mechanical completion of the processing plant expected by late 2027 and commercial ramp-up planned through 2028. Importantly, the project has secured substantial financial and strategic support. A $2.23 billion loan from the U.S. Department of Energy provides funding visibility. General Motors has committed to offtake agreements covering up to 100% of Phase 1 production and a significant portion of future Phase 2 output.
The scale of Thacker Pass is particularly noteworthy. Phase 1 alone is expected to expand current U.S. lithium production capacity by roughly seven times, highlighting the project's potential impact on the domestic supply chain. Lithium Americas’ large-scale resource base, government backing and clear production roadmap position the company to benefit from rising demand for battery materials in the years ahead. LAC currently carries a Zacks Rank #2.
ChargePoint: While much of the attention in the EV industry is focused on vehicle manufacturers, ChargePoint is building the infrastructure that makes widespread EV adoption possible. The company has built one of the largest EV charging ecosystems in the world, connecting drivers to more than 1.4 million public and private charging ports globally. Its managed network includes roughly 400,000 charging ports, including more than 41,000 DC fast chargers, with a growing presence across Europe.
ChargePoint continues to strengthen its competitive position through innovation and strategic partnerships. The company recently introduced Express Solo, a high-powered charging solution capable of delivering up to 600 kW to a single vehicle, helping address consumer demand for faster charging. It is also expanding into new use cases through partnerships such as its agreement with OBE Power to deploy approximately 2,500 charging ports at multifamily residential properties. In addition, ChargePoint secured one of its largest transit fleet orders to date, supplying charging solutions for Santa Monica's Big Blue Bus electrification program.
Beyond expanding its footprint, ChargePoint is increasingly focused on improving the economics of its business. Rising platform engagement is helping drive monetization opportunities, while stronger cost controls and better supply-chain execution are improving network reliability and deployment efficiency.
As EV adoption accelerates globally, ChargePoint's extensive charging network, technology leadership and growing recurring revenue opportunities position it to benefit from the long-term expansion of the electric mobility ecosystem. CHPT currently carries a Zacks Rank #2.
Research Chief Names "Single Best Pick to Double"
From thousands of stocks, 5 Zacks experts each have chosen their favorite to skyrocket +100% or more in months to come. From those 5, Director of Research Sheraz Mian hand-picks one to have the most explosive upside of all.
This company targets millennial and Gen Z audiences, generating nearly $1 billion in revenue last quarter alone. A recent pullback makes now an ideal time to jump aboard. Of course, all our elite picks aren’t winners but this one could far surpass earlier Zacks’ Stocks Set to Double like Nano-X Imaging which shot up +129.6% in little more than 9 months.
Free: See Our Top Stock And 4 Runners Up
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

Top Stocks Powering the Future of Electric and Self-Driving Vehicles

(RTTNews) - Baidu, Inc. (BIDU) said the the Deputy Secretary of Defense in the U.S. has included Baidu on the Department of Defense's list of Chinese Military Companies, or the CMC List. Baidu believes there is no justification for its inclusion on such list as the company is neither a Chinese military company nor a military-civil fusion contributor to the Chinese defense industrial base.
The company noted that the CMC List is not a sanctions list. Baidu stated that the U.S. government procurement limitations tied to the list will not impact the business of the company, and the CMC List does not restrict transacting in the securities of the company.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

Baidu: U.S. Government Procurement Limitations Tied To CMC List To Have No Impact On Business

For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL – May 28, 2026 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Alphabet GOOGL, Microsoft MSFT and Baidu BIDU.
Here are highlights from Wednesday’s Analyst Blog:
Google's Innovative Ad Format to Boost Search Growth: What's Ahead?
Alphabet’s Search-related endeavors have received a massive push through AI integrations. The company is leading the search domain with 90.02% market share, followed by Microsoft’s Bing, with 5.14% share, Yahoo!’s 1.5%, Yandex’s 1.19%, DuckDuckGo’s 0.75% and Baidu’s 0.46%, per the latest data from StatCounter.
Alphabet has been introducing AI-powered features frequently to boost user engagement of its Search business, which has been driving advertising revenues. GOOGL is now rolling out a new generation of AI-powered advertising formats for Search, leveraging its Gemini models to make search results more conversational, personalized and commercially actionable. The company said users increasingly rely on AI Mode to research complex topics and evaluate products, with 75% of users reporting faster and more confident decisions through AI-assisted search. To capitalize on this behavioral shift, Google is testing new ad formats that integrate AI-generated explanations and contextual recommendations directly into sponsored results while maintaining clear “Sponsored” labeling.
Among the new offerings are “Conversational Discovery” ads and “Highlighted Answers.” Conversational Discovery ads allow advertisers to answer highly specific user queries with AI-generated responses tailored to the search context, such as home fragrance recommendations or lifestyle-oriented product suggestions. Highlighted Answers, meanwhile, place relevant sponsored recommendations directly within AI-generated lists, such as language-learning apps or travel services. Alphabet said Gemini independently synthesizes product information to create transparent and trustworthy explanations that accompany advertiser content, potentially improving engagement and conversion rates.
The company is also extending AI-driven advertising beyond AI Mode into broader Search experiences. New AI-powered Shopping ads will provide customized product explainers for high-consideration purchases such as appliances and electronics, helping users understand why a particular product fits their needs. Alphabet has introduced “Business Agent for Leads,” a conversational AI assistant embedded inside ads that allows consumers to interact directly with brands. The feature is aimed at industries requiring deeper customer engagement, including education and financial services.
These initiatives strengthen GOOGL’s core Search business by making ads more interactive, relevant, and integrated into the user journey, which should support higher engagement and monetization. Alphabet is leveraging Gemini to personalize recommendations, surface dynamic offers, and facilitate transactions directly within Search. The expansion of Direct Offers, native checkout integrations, and AI-assisted shopping further positions Search as both a discovery and transaction platform, reinforcing GOOGL’s competitive moat against emerging AI search rivals and alternative commerce ecosystems.
GOOGL Faces Tough Competition in the Search Domain
Microsoft is keeping no stone unturned to improve the capabilities of Bing. The company has been integrating AI into Bing thanks to its partnership with OpenAI. Copilot answers complex queries, and the launch of Bing Generative Search is improving query understanding, thereby driving user engagement. AI search is now embedded into Microsoft’s Edge browser and Windows ecosystem. These are benefiting top-line growth as Microsoft’s third-quarter fiscal 2026 Search advertising revenues, excluding traffic acquisition costs, rose 12% (9% in constant currency).
Meanwhile, Baidu has launched new AI-powered tools to support its search business. Its proprietary ERNIE (Enhanced Representation through Knowledge Integration) models improve the semantic understanding of queries and enhance retrieval accuracy, especially for complex queries. Baidu released an updated version of its omni-modal foundation model ERNIE 5.1 in the first quarter of 2026 and restructured its model development organization into two dedicated teams to sharpen its application-driven AI strategy.
GOOGL’s Share Price Performance, Valuation & Estimates
Alphabet shares have returned 24.3% year to date (YTD), outperforming the broader Zacks Computer and Technology sector’s return of 19.4%.
The GOOGL stock is trading at a premium, with a forward 12-month price/sales of 10.29X compared with the broader sector’s 6.83X. Alphabet has a Value Score of D.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2026 earnings is pegged at $14.29 per share, up 22.6% over the past 30 days, suggesting 32.2% growth from 2025’s reported figure.
Alphabet currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
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https://www.zacks.com
Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.
Radical New Technology Could Hand Investors Huge Gains
Quantum Computing is the next technological revolution, and it could be even more advanced than AI.
While some believed the technology was years away, it is already present and moving fast. Large hyperscalers, such as Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Oracle, and even Meta and Tesla, are scrambling to integrate quantum computing into their infrastructure.
Senior Stock Strategist Kevin Cook reveals 7 carefully selected stocks poised to dominate the quantum computing landscape in his report, Beyond AI: The Quantum Leap in Computing Power.
Kevin was among the early experts who recognized NVIDIA's enormous potential back in 2016. Now, he has keyed in on what could be "the next big thing" in quantum computing supremacy. Today, you have a rare chance to position your portfolio at the forefront of this opportunity.
See Top Quantum Stocks Now >>
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights Alphabet, Microsoft and Baidu

Alphabet’s GOOGL Search-related endeavors have received a massive push through AI integrations. The company is leading the search domain with 90.02% market share, followed by Microsoft’s MSFT Bing, with 5.14% share, Yahoo!’s 1.5%, Yandex’s 1.19%, DuckDuckGo’s 0.75% and Baidu’s BIDU 0.46%, per the latest data from StatCounter.
Alphabet has been introducing AI-powered features frequently to boost user engagement of its Search business, which has been driving advertising revenues. GOOGL is now rolling out a new generation of AI-powered advertising formats for Search, leveraging its Gemini models to make search results more conversational, personalized and commercially actionable. The company said users increasingly rely on AI Mode to research complex topics and evaluate products, with 75% of users reporting faster and more confident decisions through AI-assisted search. To capitalize on this behavioral shift, Google is testing new ad formats that integrate AI-generated explanations and contextual recommendations directly into sponsored results while maintaining clear “Sponsored” labeling.
Among the new offerings are “Conversational Discovery” ads and “Highlighted Answers.” Conversational Discovery ads allow advertisers to answer highly specific user queries with AI-generated responses tailored to the search context, such as home fragrance recommendations or lifestyle-oriented product suggestions. Highlighted Answers, meanwhile, place relevant sponsored recommendations directly within AI-generated lists, such as language-learning apps or travel services. Alphabet said Gemini independently synthesizes product information to create transparent and trustworthy explanations that accompany advertiser content, potentially improving engagement and conversion rates.
The company is also extending AI-driven advertising beyond AI Mode into broader Search experiences. New AI-powered Shopping ads will provide customized product explainers for high-consideration purchases such as appliances and electronics, helping users understand why a particular product fits their needs. Alphabet has introduced “Business Agent for Leads,” a conversational AI assistant embedded inside ads that allows consumers to interact directly with brands. The feature is aimed at industries requiring deeper customer engagement, including education and financial services.
These initiatives strengthen GOOGL’s core Search business by making ads more interactive, relevant, and integrated into the user journey, which should support higher engagement and monetization. Alphabet is leveraging Gemini to personalize recommendations, surface dynamic offers, and facilitate transactions directly within Search. The expansion of Direct Offers, native checkout integrations, and AI-assisted shopping further positions Search as both a discovery and transaction platform, reinforcing GOOGL’s competitive moat against emerging AI search rivals and alternative commerce ecosystems.
GOOGL Faces Tough Competition in the Search Domain
Microsoft is keeping no stone unturned to improve the capabilities of Bing. The company has been integrating AI into Bing thanks to its partnership with OpenAI. Copilot answers complex queries, and the launch of Bing Generative Search is improving query understanding, thereby driving user engagement. AI search is now embedded into Microsoft’s Edge browser and Windows ecosystem. These are benefiting top-line growth as Microsoft’s third-quarter fiscal 2026 Search advertising revenues, excluding traffic acquisition costs, rose 12% (9% in constant currency).
Meanwhile, Baidu has launched new AI-powered tools to support its search business. Its proprietary ERNIE (Enhanced Representation through Knowledge Integration) models improve the semantic understanding of queries and enhance retrieval accuracy, especially for complex queries. Baidu released an updated version of its omni-modal foundation model ERNIE 5.1 in the first quarter of 2026 and restructured its model development organization into two dedicated teams to sharpen its application-driven AI strategy.
GOOGL’s Share Price Performance, Valuation & Estimates
Alphabet shares have returned 24.3% year to date (YTD), outperforming the broader Zacks Computer and Technology sector’s return of 19.4%.
GOOGL Stock’s YTD Price Performance
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The GOOGL stock is trading at a premium, with a forward 12-month price/sales of 10.29X compared with the broader sector’s 6.83X. Alphabet has a Value Score of D.
GOOGL Valuation
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2026 earnings is pegged at $14.29 per share, up 22.6% over the past 30 days, suggesting 32.2% growth from 2025’s reported figure.
Alphabet Inc. Price and Consensus
Alphabet currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Beyond Nvidia: AI's Second Wave Is Here
The AI revolution has already minted millionaires. But the stocks everyone knows about aren't likely to keep delivering the biggest profits. AI’s second wave is moving from infrastructure to implementation and these companies are at the forefront of this transition, positioned to become what Amazon and Google were to the internet era.
See Stocks Now >>
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

Indicator	TTM Median
P/E	0.00 15.34
Price/Sales	2.15 0.97
P/B	0.82 1.40
P/FCF	0.00 12.08

Indicator	TTM Median
ROE	0.59 12.46
ROA	0.37 5.10
ROI	0.49 7.26
Net Worth	40.75 0.68
Quick Ratio	0.00 0.93
Current Ratio	1.85 1.15

Indicator	TTM Median
Net Profit Margin	1.26 9.73
Operating Margin	0.00 14.22
Gross Margin	42.11 54.09
Return on tangible equity	0.71 26.06

Indicator	TTM Median
EPS	2.48 0.28
EPS Forecast	1.95 0.26
Revenue	4.65B 80.00M
Gross Profit	1.81B —
EBITDA	463.00M —

Baidu, Inc.

Recent quarterly and TTM performance

Valuation

Debts

Efficiency

Other ratios

Revenue