Alphabet Inc. offers various products and platforms in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia-Pacific, Canada, and Latin America. It operates through Google Services, Google Cloud, and Other Bets segments. The Google Services segment provides products and services, including ads, Android, Chrome, devices, Gmail, Google Drive, Google Maps, Google Photos, Google Play, Search, and YouTube. It is also involved in the sale of apps and in-app purchases and digital content in the Google Play and YouTube; and devices, as well as in the provision of YouTube consumer subscription services. The Google Cloud segment offers infrastructure, cybersecurity, databases, analytics, AI, and other services; Google Workspace that include cloud-based communication and collaboration tools for enterprises, such as Gmail, Docs, Drive, Calendar, and Meet; and other services for enterprise customers. The Other Bets segment sells healthcare-related and internet services. The company was incorporated in 1998 and is headquartered in Mountain View, California.

Alphabet Inc.

(1:00) - Should Investors Expect To See Gold Push New Highs?
(5:05) - What Is Driving Silver Prices So High?
(9:00) - Are Mining ETFs A Good Investment Right Now?
(11:50) - How Can Investors Benefit From Uranium?
(25:45) - Is There A Specific Commodity Theme Investors Should Stick With?
(27:40) - Episode Roundup: SGDM, SGDJ, COPP, COPJ, URNM, URNJ, GBUG, SLVR
In this episode of ETF Spotlight, I speak with John Ciampaglia, CEO of Sprott Asset Management, about investing in metals and miners, which are among the hottest trades this year.
Gold, silver, copper, and uranium have all surged, though for somewhat different reasons, and their miners have done even better.
Gold prices have slipped recently on easing trade tensions between the U.S. and China, which could diminish the appeal of safe-haven assets. The SPDR Gold Shares GLD is still up more than 52% year to date, and gold remains the best-performing major asset class this year.
The outlook for gold remains positive given expectations for interest rate cuts, rising debt and deficit concerns, and continued central bank buying.
Silver, often called the “poor man’s gold,” has actually outshined it this year, surging almost 68% despite a recent pullback. Unlike gold, silver has significant industrial applications in electronics, solar panels, and other technologies.
Miners, which are generally high-beta plays on the price of the underlying precious metal, have performed even better. The Sprott Gold Miners ETF SGDM and Junior Gold Miners ETF SGDJ are among the top-performing funds this year, up over 100%.
Uranium has also been a major beneficiary of the massive AI data center buildout by tech giants including Microsoft MSFT, Amazon AMZN, Google GOOG, and Meta META.
While demand for uranium continues to rise, supply faces many challenges, and expanding it will take time. The Sprott Uranium Miners ETF URNM has gained about 55% this year.
Copper, which is up about 26% this year, is also benefiting from the AI boom as it is used in data centers, power grids, electric vehicles, and smartphones. Recently, there have been growing concerns about supply shortages.
Tune in to the podcast to learn more. Make sure to be on the lookout for the next edition of ETF Spotlight! If you have any comments or questions, please email podcast@zacks.com.
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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.

From Gold to Uranium: Inside the Metals Boom of 2025

Key Points
Despite increasing competition, Alphabet has reported strong growth in search advertising.
Its full-stack technology infrastructure, including AI models, custom AI chips, and data centers, is a competitive advantage.
Investors are underestimating Google's prospects in the AI market.
Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL) has a valuable ecosystem of services across Google Search, YouTube, and Gmail. More than 2 billion people use these services every day, but artificial intelligence (AI) is introducing a threat the company hasn't faced before.
OpenAI's ChatGPT has more than 700 million weekly users, compared to 450 million monthly users for Google's Gemini. This is creating new competition for Google's dominant search business. But one reason Alphabet can defend its position and deliver returns for investors is the substantial investments it has made in technology infrastructure.
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Google's largest business is showing solid growth
Alphabet is slated to report its third-quarter earnings results on Oct. 29, but its second-quarter report in July showed solid growth across the business. Alphabet generates 74% of revenue from advertising, with the largest component of this coming from search. If Alphabet's competitive position is weakening, it will show in search revenue, but this business is holding up well. Search and other services reported revenue growth of 12% year over year in Q2, driven by strong engagement with AI Overviews.
"AI is positively impacting every part of the business, driving strong momentum," CEO Sundar Pichai said. Pichai also noted that YouTube and subscription offerings delivered strong performance, which shows that the company's entire ecosystem is benefiting from investments in AI.
Google also has promising moonshot opportunities in self-driving cars with Waymo and quantum computing, which provide some optionality that is not priced in to the share price. This is all possible because of the company's investments from growing operating cash flows in AI infrastructure.
Alphabet's competitive advantage
Data center capacity is the most valuable asset in the AI race. This puts Google way ahead of the game. It has cloud computing (Google Cloud), proprietary AI models (Gemini), custom AI chips (Tensor Processing Units), and data centers. These assets are undervalued by investors right now.
Alphabet generated $133 billion in cash flow from operations over the last year through Q2 2025. This cash flow will fund approximately $85 billion in capital expenditures this year, which is funding servers and an acceleration in data center construction.
The recent strength in its advertising businesses and growing cash flows show Alphabet is well positioned to deliver excellent returns for investors. The stock's valuation appears to be in the process of being rerated. It has rocketed 65% in the last six months, outperforming the S&P 500, yet the stock still trades at just 24 times 2026 earnings projections. This valuation on top of strong growth makes it a solid buy.
Should you invest $1,000 in Alphabet right now?
Before you buy stock in Alphabet, 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 Alphabet 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 $590,287!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,173,807!*
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*Stock Advisor returns as of October 27, 2025
John Ballard has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet. 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.

1 Incredible Reason to Buy Alphabet (GOOGL) Stock in November

Key Points
Q3 revenue and adjusted earnings per share (EPS) easily beat Wall Street's estimates.
The company is benefiting from the AI data center buildout boom.
Management raised full-year 2025 guidance and issued 2026 guidance that was higher on the top and bottom lines than analysts had been expecting.
Shares of Celestica (NYSE: CLS) surged 10% in Monday's after-hours trading, following the Canada-based electronic manufacturing services (EMS) provider's release of its third-quarter 2025 report.
The stock's gain is attributable to the quarter's revenue and earnings easily beating Wall Street's estimates, management raising its full-year 2025 guidance above the Street's estimates, and management issuing full-year 2026 guidance that came in higher on the top and bottom lines than analysts had been expecting.
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Celestica is benefiting from the massive buildout of artificial intelligence (AI) data centers. Its customers include the top five hyperscalers, generally considered to be Amazon, Microsoft, Alphabet, Meta Platforms, and likely Apple. (Hyperscalers are companies that operate massive AI-focused data centers, often to support their cloud computing services.)
Celestica's key numbers
Metric
Q3 2024
Q3 2025
Change
Revenue
$2.50 billion
$3.19 billion
28%
GAAP operating income
$138 million
$325 million
136%
GAAP net income
$89.5 million
$267.8 million
199%
Adjusted net income
$123.8 million
$183.1 million
48%
GAAP earnings per share (EPS)
$0.75
$2.31
208%
Adjusted EPS
$1.04
$1.58
52%
Wall Street was looking for Q3 adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $1.49 on revenue of $3.04 billion. So, the company easily exceeded both expectations. Both results also surpassed the high end of the company's guidance ranges.
In Q3, Celestica generated cash of $126.2 million from running its operations, up 3% year over year. Free cash flow was $88.9 million, up from $76.8 million in the year-ago period.
Segment results
Segment
Q3 2025 Revenue
YOY Change
Q3 2025 Adjusted Operating Margin
YOY Change
Connectivity & cloud solutions (CCS)
$2.41 billion
43%
8.3%
Up from 7.6%
Advanced technology solutions (ATS)
$0.78 billion
(4%)
5.5%
Up from 4.9%
Total
$3.19 billion
28%
7.6%
Up from 6.8%
Within CCS, hardware platform solutions revenue soared 79% year over year to $1.4 billion. This subsegment primarily includes servers and storage solutions for the enterprise market. It's a fast-growing business due to the booming global buildout of AI data centers.
The ATS segment includes the company's aerospace and defense, industrial, health tech, and capital equipment businesses.
What the CEO had to say
Here's part of what CEO Rob Mionis had to say in the earnings release:
Furthermore, we are announcing our 2026 annual outlook with revenue of $16.0 billion and non-GAAP adjusted EPS of $8.20, representing growth of 31% and 39% respectively. The demand outlook from our largest customers, who continue to make significant investments in AI data center infrastructure, remains strong, supporting our 2026 annual outlook with indications of these dynamics continuing into 2027. [Emphasis mine.]
Guidance
Management raised its full-year 2025 guidance and issued full-year 2026 guidance.
For 2025, management expects:
Revenue of $12.2 billion, up from $11.55 billion. This outlook equates to annual growth of 26%.
Adjusted EPS of $5.90, up from $5.50. This outlook equates to annual growth of 52%.
Going into the release, Wall Street had been expecting 2025 revenue and adjusted EPS of $11.7 billion and $5.62, respectively. So, Celestica's outlook beat both expectations.
For 2026, management expects:
Revenue of $16.0 billion.
Adjusted EPS of $8.20.
Going into the release, Wall Street had been expecting 2026 revenue and adjusted EPS of $14.1 billion and $7.22, respectively. So, Celestica's outlook breezed by both estimates.
I'll end with the same conclusion as in my September article highlighting Celestica stock: "In short, if you're a growth stock investor, Celestica stock is worth considering buying -- or at least putting on your watchlist."
Should you invest $1,000 in Celestica right now?
Before you buy stock in Celestica, 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 Celestica 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 $590,287!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,173,807!*
Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 1,047% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 195% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.
*Stock Advisor returns as of October 27, 2025
Beth McKenna has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Celestica, Meta Platforms, and Microsoft. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. 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.

AI Stock Celestica Surged 10% on Q3 Earnings and 2026 Guidance That Breezed By Wall Street's Estimates

Key Points
Amazon has multiple businesses that would be unaffected if an AI bubble bursts.
Most of Alphabet's revenue comes from its Google Search engine, which is in great shape.
Meta Platforms derives nearly all of its revenue from ads on its social media platforms.
The market is growing increasingly concerned about artificial intelligence (AI) forming a bubble that could sink a large portion of the stock market because many businesses are heavily tied to the AI build-out, including the largest company in the world, Nvidia. Some elements of the artificial intelligence market are becoming a bit frothy with their valuations.
But I think investors need to understand that it's not true of all the AI hyperscalers. Most of these concerns have popped up after OpenAI announced multiple deals with computing providers. It doesn't have the cash to pay for chips, so it is structuring the deals in ways that involve the chip suppliers investing in OpenAI's expensive valuation.
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The same thing happened in the dot-com bubble 25 years ago, and it has raised investor concern that it could be happening again. However, that ignores a key point: There are other companies out there besides OpenAI that are spending real money on AI chips.
Companies like Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL), and Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META) have non-AI businesses that are providing the cash flow to purchase computing equipment. If the AI bubble bursts and companies start decreasing their AI build-out, they will be just fine, making them excellent stocks if you're a bit worried we're in a bubble.
Amazon
Amazon is well-known for its e-commerce store and other services it provides, but one of its least-known parts is Amazon Web Services (AWS), its cloud computing division. While cloud computing is a huge profit driver (it made up 53% of operating profits during the second quarter), it's also a huge capital expense line item.
AWS is dragging down the company's free cash flow margins because of the huge demand for increased AI computing power. Should the AI bubble burst, Amazon will still maintain a lot of its clients for this service, but won't need to build out nearly the computing capacity.
As a result, its cash flow would improve, making the stock look increasingly cheap. Even if it is partly affected, Amazon's consumer-facing business would continue to chug along as is, producing solid high-single-digit to low-double-digit growth.
Amazon isn't going to put up market-crushing returns anymore, but it can easily outperform the market with its current businesses.
Alphabet
Alphabet is better known by its primary brand, Google. Alphabet owns multiple businesses, but the Google Search engine is by far the biggest contributor. In the second quarter, Google Search revenue came to more than $54 billion, with overall revenue totaling over $96 billion. This makes Google Search crucial for Alphabet's future success, and there were some fears over its ability to deliver that long-term success.
To solidify its role as the primary way to navigate the internet, Google introduced AI Search Overviews, which provide a generative AI-powered search summary. This hybrid approach improves the experience and allows Google to pivot into the next wave of how internet users will search for answers.
Another issue that Google Search was facing was a court case accusing Alphabet of operating an illegal monopoly. While Google was found guilty, the judge didn't pursue the Justice Department's recommendation to break up Google.
All of these factors combine to make Alphabet a viable investment since they fund its current AI aspirations but could survive if the AI bubble bursts.
Lastly, there is Meta Platforms, the parent company of social media sites like Facebook and Instagram. Meta gets nearly all of its revenue from advertising on its platforms, but it's using the proceeds from ads to fund its AI aspirations. If a bubble bursts, the company will no longer need to spend huge amounts of money on building out AI data centers.
Still, Meta is seeing some improvements with how it has implemented AI already. Ad impressions and conversion rates have improved, but CEO Mark Zuckerberg says there is a lot of room for AI integration in his company's platforms.
Meta Platforms has the funds to spend on AI if it chooses, but if it decides to quit investing in this area, the base business will still be fine.
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Keithen Drury has positions in Alphabet, Amazon, Meta Platforms, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Amazon, Meta Platforms, and Nvidia. 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.

3 Stocks to Buy if We Are in An Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stock Market Bubble

Key Points
IonQ's CEO believes its technology will replace GPUs.
Nvidia is slated to rapidly grow thanks to increased data center spending.
Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) has been the undisputed king of AI investing, although some competition has started to emerge recently. However, these are traditional computing companies, not quantum computing businesses like IonQ (NYSE: IONQ). Quantum computing stocks have heavily sold off in the past few days, making them far more attractive than they were just a few weeks ago.
With quantum computing potentially threatening traditional computing's dominance in the artificial intelligence sector, is IonQ the better investment over the long term versus Nvidia?
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IonQ made a bold prediction about its future
IonQ's CEO Niccolo de Masi stated in an interview that he believes quantum processing units will eventually replace graphics processing units (GPUs) in accelerated computing applications. He compared the rise of quantum processing units to how GPUs replaced CPUs in situations where more computing power was needed.
That's a bold proclamation, but it could have huge ramifications if it pans out. Nvidia is the world's largest company and is putting up huge growth figures because its GPUs are in such high demand for AI computing applications. If IonQ could rise to replace Nvidia, that would result in monstrous returns that would turn meager investments in IonQ into more than a million dollars.
But is this realistic?
There's no guarantee IonQ will be the winner
The AI computing market is massive. Nvidia projected that global data center capital expenditures will total $600 billion in 2025, but rise to $3 trillion to $4 trillion in annual spending by 2030. That's a monstrous market, and if Nvidia can keep its market share, it will be slated to deliver massive growth for investors.
But could IonQ take some of that massive buildout figure? Likely not. IonQ and its quantum computing peers point toward 2030 as the turning point for the commercial viability of quantum computing. This means that most quantum computing companies won't see significant sales until this time frame. That's already after the bulk of the AI infrastructure has been built out, so it's unlikely that IonQ will be able to have a massive effect on the AI arms race, although it could allow companies to push into the next frontier of AI in the years following.
From a market standpoint, one of IonQ's competitors, Rigetti Computing (NASDAQ: RGTI), notes that it expects a $15 billion to $30 billion annual market to emerge between 2030 and 2040. IonQ believes the total addressable quantum computing market will reach about $87 billion by 2035 (that's a cumulative figure). Nvidia generated $41 billion in data center GPU sales alone during Q2, so it's clear that Nvidia will likely generate more money than these quantum computing companies even a decade from now.
Furthermore, there's no guarantee that IonQ's approach will be the ultimate winner. While IonQ is a leader now, it's possible that it loses that leadership position over the net in the future.
Additionally, there are many potential competitors in the quantum computing arms race, and companies like Alphabet have nearly unlimited resources to spend on this technology, unlike IonQ. It's an uphill battle for IonQ, but if it pans out, it will still make investors a ton of money, although there's no guarantee of success.
Between Nvidia and IonQ, I think there's a clear winner as to which stock is the better AI computing play: Nvidia. Nvidia is still rapidly growing and making money from each GPU it sells. We're still a ways out from quantum computing becoming relevant, even though IonQ looks like a promising pick in this space. IonQ is a long-shot investment that could pay off, but if the AI market is as large as Nvidia says it is (alongside many other companies involved in this space), Nvidia will pay off.
Should you invest $1,000 in Nvidia right now?
Before you buy stock in Nvidia, 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 Nvidia 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 $590,357!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,141,748!*
Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 1,033% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 193% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.
*Stock Advisor returns as of October 27, 2025
Keithen Drury has positions in Alphabet and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet and Nvidia. 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.

Is IonQ or Nvidia the Better AI Computing Stock to Buy Now?

Key Points
Alphabet, which owns Google, has launched popular AI products, including AI Overviews and the Gemini app.
It also provides custom-built AI chips.
A recent partnership with Anthropic should add to Alphabet's impressive revenue numbers.
The tech sector is doing well this year, with the Nasdaq-100 index up 21%, ahead of the S&P 500's 15% return. That growth has made tech stocks expensive. Overall, the Nasdaq-100 is trading at 39 times earnings.
There are exceptions, with Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG)(NASDAQ: GOOGL) being one of the biggest examples. The company that owns Google is trading at 28 times earnings, and with its recent moves, it's looking like one of the best tech stocks to buy right now.
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Alphabet is winning the AI race
The fear for Alphabet was that artificial intelligence (AI), particularly chatbots like ChatGPT and Claude, would cut into its search business. But Alphabet is usually able to take a leading position in major tech markets. It has the world's top search engine (Google), browser (Chrome), and mobile operating system (Android).
Alphabet has quickly turned AI into a point of strength, as well. Its AI Overviews feature has 2 billion monthly users, and the Google Gemini app has 450 million monthly active users, as reported on the company's second-quarter earnings call. In addition, Google and AI company Anthropic just announced an exciting partnership agreement.
The cloud partnership gives Anthropic access to up to 1 million of Google's custom-designed Tensor Processing Units (TPUs), and it's reportedly worth tens of billions of dollars. It's another sizable source of revenue for Alphabet, which produced $73 billion in free cash flow last year. The deal also reinforces Google as one of the top providers of AI infrastructure, in addition to its other AI products.
Statista is projecting that the AI market will grow by 37% per year through 2031. Alphabet will likely remain at the forefront of AI technology, and combined with its other businesses, it's well positioned to outperform the market.
Should you invest $1,000 in Alphabet right now?
Before you buy stock in Alphabet, 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 Alphabet 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 $590,357!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,141,748!*
Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 1,033% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 193% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.
*Stock Advisor returns as of October 27, 2025
Lyle Daly has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet. 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.

What Is One of the Best Tech Stocks to Buy Right Now?

Key Points
Alphabet's technology is best-in-class.
Alphabet has massive cash flow to finance its quantum computing investments.
Quantum computing stocks were all the rage on Wall Street up until a few days ago. Now, quantum computing stocks have sustained heavy losses as investors readjust their expectations of when quantum computing could become a viable alternative.
The most popular quantum computing stocks by far are pure plays like IonQ (NYSE: IONQ), Rigetti Computing (NASDAQ: RGTI), and D-Wave Quantum (NYSE: QBTS). However, these three are long-shot investments that may or may not pay off.
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Instead of this trio, I think investors should look at an under-the-radar quantum computing alternative: Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL). While Alphabet may not be an under-the-radar company in general (it's the fourth-largest company in the world by market cap), it has mostly been forgotten about in the quantum computing realm. I've got three reasons investors should consider Alphabet as a quantum computing investment, and I wouldn't be surprised to see Alphabet outperform some of its quantum computing pure-play competition over the next few years.
1. Alphabet is a leader in quantum computing
While many point toward the quantum computing pure plays as being leaders in the quantum computing industry, Alphabet challenged that notion a few days ago when it released some of the latest results of its Willow quantum computing chip.
On Oct. 22, Google announced that its Willow quantum computing chip successfully ran a verifiable algorithm on its quantum computer at a speed 13,000 times faster than a traditional computer. It did this on a 105-qubit system, one of the largest and most powerful currently known. For reference, Rigetti Computing made headlines when two companies purchased its Novera quantum computing system, which has four sets of nine qubits.
Alphabet is clearly a leader in this field, and it has the results to prove it. Alphabet may wipe the floor with its competition, making it the smartest quantum computing company to invest in.
2. Alphabet has plenty of cash to fund its quantum computing investments
Unlike its quantum computing pure-play competition, Alphabet has nearly unlimited resources to pour into its quantum computing aspirations. This isn't a cheap technology by any means, so having massive cash flow to fund research is critical. Over the past 12 months, Alphabet has generated around $66 billion in free cash flow.
It's using a huge chunk of that for building out artificial intelligence data centers, but it could also shift those funds to finance its quantum aspirations as well. For reference, IonQ's revenue for Q2 totaled $20.7 million, and it currently has just over half a billion in cash and short-term investments on its balance sheet.
While David and Goliath stories exist for a reason, this seems to be one where David doesn't have enough funding to compete with the Goliath in the industry. I think this gives Alphabet a serious competitive advantage, and it's one that the pure plays may not be able to overcome.
3. Alphabet isn't an all-or-nothing quantum computing play
Lastly, there's no guarantee that quantum computing will work out. Although many companies are starting to prove meaningful applications, it's unknown how large the real-world application truly is for quantum technology. Additionally, these pure-play quantum computing investments are just that, pure plays. It's an all-or-nothing bet that they will achieve quantum computing supremacy. If they don't succeed, there's a significant chance of the investment going to $0.
Alphabet isn't like that. It has a strong advertising business based on its Google family of products, as well as a strong cloud computing offering. If quantum computing doesn't pan out or another competitor beats out Alphabet, it will still be a viable investment. This significantly reduces the risk of the overall investment, making me more confident in backing Alphabet as a quantum computing investment than any other stock in this industry.
Should you invest $1,000 in Alphabet right now?
Before you buy stock in Alphabet, 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 Alphabet 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 $590,357!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,141,748!*
Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 1,033% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 193% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.
*Stock Advisor returns as of October 27, 2025
Keithen Drury has positions in Alphabet. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet. 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.

3 Reasons to Buy This Under-the-Radar Quantum Computing Stock Today

Key Points
Tech companies design the chips they need for their products, but they rely on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) to manufacture them.
TSMC's business is more diversified than Nvidia's and less reliant on current AI hype and spending.
TSMC continues to produce more power and energy-efficient AI chips.
Although artificial intelligence (AI) is far from new, it has taken the world by storm and made many advancements over the past few years. And with these advancements, you can make the case that Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) has been the biggest beneficiary. Its stock price might not have increased the most, but its business has surely exploded.
Nvidia designs many of the AI chips that are used in data centers and for training AI models. However, another AI chip company has solidified its position as indispensable in the AI pipeline: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (NYSE: TSM) (TSMC). If you're looking for the best AI stock to invest in right now, TSMC should be your go-to.
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Tech as we know it today suffers without TSMC
While companies like Nvidia and other big tech companies design the specific chips they need for their products, they don't actually manufacture them. Manufacturing chips requires significant capital, equipment, and specialized engineering talent, so in most cases, it's not worth it for these companies to make the investments. Instead, they rely on TSMC to bring these chips to life.
There's no doubt that TSMC is the leading chip manufacturer in terms of effectiveness, scale, and yield (the percentage of chips that work as intended). No other company comes particularly close, which is why major tech companies rely so heavily on TSMC.
Not only has this worked well for TSMC's revenue, but its near-monopoly has also given it pricing power that has boosted its profitability, especially in the past two years, when AI chips became a larger part of its business.
Nvidia became a hot AI company (and the world's most valuable public company) because of the graphics processing units (GPUs) it produces. However, I'd rather go with TSMC right now because without it, Nvidia's business would noticeably suffer.
Strengthening its competitive advantage
One of the major problems facing the AI revolution we're witnessing is the amount of power consumption that goes into data centers and training AI models. Some sources estimate that a single ChatGPT query could use 10 times as much power as a Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) search. And the amount of power required to train new AI models could be as high as what it takes to power thousands of homes in a year.
One way TSMC is expected to help this issue is through its new 2-nanometer (2nm) chip that's expected to be available in 2026. According to TSMC, the new 2nm chip could use 25% to 30% less power than its 3nm chip at the same speed. This isn't a solution to the power problem, but with TSMC's chips being so prevalent in data centers, it will surely help a bit.
TSMC is already the go-to for advanced AI chips, but if the company is producing more powerful and energy-efficient chips, companies investing in data centers and AI infrastructure will likely continue to choose TSMC because it saves them money in long-term energy costs. This is one effective way to strengthen its already strong competitive advantage.
A well-rounded business built to last
Although advanced AI chips have become a large part of TSMC's business, it's far from the company's only successful segment. TSMC manufactures chips for smartphones, laptops, tablets, TVs, cars, and dozens of other tech products. Even if the AI hype slows down (and eventually it will), TSMC's business is built to continue being successful.
This isn't to say Nvidia is only successful because of AI, but its business would undoubtedly take a major hit if demand for AI chips slowed or TSMC faced production issues. Without TSMC, the whole tech ecosystem would take a step back. Without Nvidia, the AI world would take a step back, but plenty of other areas of tech would operate without missing a beat.
TSMC is a stock you can comfortably hold for the long term.
Should you invest $1,000 in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing right now?
Before you buy stock in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, 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 Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing 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 $590,357!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,141,748!*
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*Stock Advisor returns as of October 27, 2025
Stefon Walters has positions in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Nvidia and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing. 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.

Forget Nvidia: The Best AI Chip Stock to Buy Right Now

Key Points
Meta Platforms' social media platforms provide the company with a treasure trove of data.
The company uses artificial intelligence (AI) to ensure its ads hit their mark.
The stock is attractively priced, particularly in light of its track record of growth.
The engine that drives the U.S. economy has changed dramatically over the past two decades. Case in point: Energy bellwether ExxonMobil and industrial stalwart General Electric were the two largest publicly traded companies by market cap in 2005, with values of $375 billion and $362 billion, respectively. Now, just 20 years later, technology companies at the forefront of artificial intelligence (AI) top the charts.
Only four companies have joined the ultra-exclusive $3 trillion club, and the names are immediately recognizable. Chipmaker Nvidia leads the list at $4.4 trillion (as of this writing), within striking distance of a new all-time high. iPhone maker Apple recently soared into second place at $3.9 trillion. Cloud and software provider Microsoft is right on Apple's heels, worth $3.8 trillion. Search pioneer Alphabet wraps up our quartet at $3 trillion.
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With a market cap of $1.8 trillion, it might seem premature to suggest tech titan Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META) is destined for membership in the $3 trillion club, but the evidence is clear. If this comes to pass, investors who buy shares today could pocket returns of 67% if Meta crosses the $3 trillion mark. Here's why I believe the writing is on the wall.
A captive audience
Meta is the parent company behind several of the world's most popular social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. To stake its claim in the AI revolution, Meta tapped the information it compiles from the nearly 3.5 billion users who visit one of its platforms every day. This data helped the company develop its suite of Llama large language models (LLMs), which are among the most competitive in the industry. This positions Meta to profit from the tidal wave of AI adoption.
The company benefits from its foray into AI in other ways. Meta has long used machine learning -- an earlier branch of AI -- to surface relevant content for users and direct its targeted advertising. The development of generative AI only increased Meta's advantage, as the company curated AI-powered tools to help advertisers succeed.
The results tell the tale. In the second quarter, Meta generated revenue of $47.5 billion, which climbed 22% year over year, resulting in diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $7.14, which jumped 38%.
Commentary from CEO Mark Zuckerberg shed light on the results. He noted that AI is "unlocking greater efficiency and gains across our ads system ... [driving] roughly 5% more ad conversions on Instagram and 3% on Facebook." There's more. The company's content strategy is bearing fruit as users spent 5% more time on Facebook and 6% more on Instagram. More time translates to more advertising, which ultimately increases revenue.
The company's ever-expanding user base and increasing ad conversions position Meta for continued success.
The path to $3 trillion
Meta has a market cap of roughly $1.8 trillion (as of this writing), so it will take a stock price increase of roughly 66% to propel its value to $3 trillion. Wall Street's estimates that Meta will generate revenue of $196 billion in 2025, giving the stock a forward price-to-sales (P/S) ratio of 9. Assuming its P/S remains constant, Meta will need to generate revenue of roughly $327 billion annually to support a $3 trillion market cap.
Furthermore, Wall Street is currently forecasting Meta's revenue growth at nearly 15% annually over the next five years. If the company can achieve this benchmark, it could surpass a $3 trillion market cap as soon as 2029. Those projections might well be conservative, as Meta has grown its trailing-12-month revenue by more than 897% over the past decade.
Finally, at less than 27 times trailing-12-month earnings, Meta's valuation is cheaper than the multiple of 31 for the S&P 500 -- yet has increased by 656% over the past 10 years, well ahead of the S&P 500, which gained just 232%.
Should you invest $1,000 in Meta Platforms right now?
Before you buy stock in Meta Platforms, 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 Meta Platforms 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 $590,357!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,141,748!*
Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 1,033% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 193% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.
*Stock Advisor returns as of October 27, 2025
Danny Vena has positions in Alphabet, Apple, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Apple, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool recommends GE Aerospace and recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. 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.

Prediction: This Unstoppable Stock Will Join Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft, and Alphabet in the $3 Trillion Club Before 2029

(RTTNews) - In what cybersecurity experts are referring to as one of the biggest credential dumps ever found, a massive data leak has revealed over 183 million email passwords, including tens of millions linked to Gmail accounts.
According to researcher Troy Hunt of Have I Been Pwned, the 3.5-terabyte trove was discovered online this month and contains 23 billion login records gathered from infostealer malware, which surreptitiously gathers usernames and passwords from compromised devices. Of the accounts, about 16.4 million had never been compromised before.
Although there was no direct hack of Gmail, malware, phishing scams, and phony software downloads were used to obtain the credentials, many of which are still active. Experts cautioned that credential stuffing attacks could compromise numerous accounts if victims reuse their passwords.
Google emphasized that claims of a breach unique to Gmail are untrue and acknowledged that the company is aware of the leak.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

Alphabet Inc.

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