Oracle Said to Move Ahead With Cloud Services Plan in Indonesia
The American tech giant will lease DayOne's data centers located at Nongsa Digital Park on the Indonesian island of Batam, according to the people, who asked not to be identified discussing information that's private. Oracle will be the sole tenant at DayOne plots that could support facilities with at least 120 megawatts of power, they said.
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The Hill
8 hours ago
- The Hill
TikTok can shape America's next generation and Beijing knows it
If Washington doesn't act urgently, content pushed by TikTok and consumed by young Americans will result in future U.S. leaders unwittingly parroting China's talking points, advocating warped views and, most dangerously, acting in ways that are in Beijing's interests but undermine U.S. national security. There is admittedly no 'smoking gun,' but TikTok represents a highly plausible vector of intelligence collection. ByteDance, TikTok's parent firm, claims it is committed to U.S. national security, but is legally bound to cooperate with the Chinese Communist Party. The People's Republic of China almost certainly uses TikTok, at a minimum, as a collection platform to monitor public opinion. The Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. and TikTok agreed in January 2023 to maintain all U.S. data within the U.S., but there are concerning reports of leaks. With 170 million U.S. users, TikTok provides Beijing with real-time, granular insight into American public opinion. That real-time data collection would prove enormously useful, for instance, in assessing U.S. willingness to fight in a hypothetical conflict over Taiwan. But the challenge from TikTok with America's youth is not just collection, but influence. Early evidence suggests this is already underway. A Rutgers study found TikTok suppressed unfavorable accounts of sensitive topics, including Tibet, Tiananmen Square, Uyghur rights and Xinjiang. 'Heavy' users expressed elevated positive attitudes toward China's human rights record and greater interest in traveling to China. Given that the company's black box algorithm thwarts independent verification, we likely have seen only the tip of the iceberg of Beijing's efforts to sway the U.S. public. The algorithm could convulse U.S. domestic politics by sowing discord and highlighting divisions, an outcome that serves Beijing's interest in undermining U.S. cohesion and painting D.C. as an unreliable partner. Indeed, rather than bolstering one candidate or another, TikTok may act as an anti-incumbent tool. In the 2024 election, TikTok contributed to President Biden's low approval ratings, according to one Democratic strategist. In that election, President Trump's support among 18-29-year-olds, which disproportionately comprises TikTok's user base, rose by seven points from 2020. And yet, by April, only three months into office, Trump's support among young people has declined markedly — by up to 27 points. While there are admittedly many variables at play, TikTok can amplify alienation and short-term sentiment swings. Whatever one's politics, it's dangerous for China to retain levers that can subtly shape American public opinion, especially by amplifying dissatisfaction. It's worth noting that as Beijing uses tools to manipulate the U.S. public, especially its youth, it's taking meaningful steps to protect its own young people. Douyin, the version of TikTok used in China and also owned by ByteDance, is required by authorities to enforce a 'youth mode,' limiting users under 14 to app usage for just 40 minutes a day. It also locks them out between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. daily. The contrast is stark: China exports attention-fracturing content while shielding its own youth from it. China's use of TikTok may allow it to influence mass and elite opinion. And in fact, TikTok may be uniquely effective at influencing elite views, by enabling microtargeting. Given TikTok's effectiveness and deniability, as well as Beijing's determination to supplant the United States, Chinese security services are likely tweaking TikTok's algorithms to micro-target key users. Chinese security services can directly shape TikTok's algorithm — rather than merely exploit one built by others — giving it a deniable, end-to-end influence over what users see. Crucially, any elite-focused information operation via TikTok would be even more difficult to detect in the unclassified domain than efforts to shape mass public opinion because of how narrow and precise the targeting would be. For far too long, U.S. leaders on both sides of the aisle have failed to take action against the platform. And the reported decision by President Trump to tell U.S. companies they can ignore the law barring American companies from engaging with TikTok represents a new and immediate danger to U.S. national and economic security. At a minimum, it is imperative to ensure the U.S. is not allowing companies or individuals to engage with TikTok so long as its algorithm is controlled by a Beijing-linked company. But U.S. policymakers need to go even further and consider, for example, more ambitious measures such as national limits on short-video screen time for minors. The status quo is incomprehensible and dangerous: Young Americans are being asked to unwittingly face off against an algorithm that may be a tool of Chinese intelligence services. Allowing this dynamic to persist risks eroding the cognitive, civic and strategic foundations of American leadership. Jonathan Panikoff is a senior fellow in the Atlantic Council's GeoEconomics Center and the former director of the Investment Security Group, overseeing the intelligence community's CFIUS efforts at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Joseph Webster is a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and editor of the independent China-Russia Report.
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Yahoo
3 Top Stocks to Buy With $1,000 in August
Key Points This tech leader is seeing growing demand for cloud services, yet its stock trades at just 14 times expected earnings. A well-known athleisure superstar looks like it's oversold, and value investors should take a look. This diversified apparel company could be at the start of a turnaround. 10 stocks we like better than Alibaba Group › The stock market has shown incredible resiliency in 2025. After shaking off the trade wars and uncertainty for the economy, the S&P 500 is sitting close to new all-time highs. As August, which is historically a weak month for the markets, approaches, there are solid companies trading at reasonable valuations that are worth buying. If you have $1,000 to commit to a long-term investment plan, read why three Motley Fool contributors like Alibaba (NYSE: BABA), Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ: LULU), and VF Corp (NYSE: VFC) right now. An undervalued tech giant (Alibaba): Shares of Alibaba are starting to climb out of the slump they've been in for the past few years. This is a great time to consider starting an investment in the tech giant. An improving economy in China and strong demand for the company's cloud services are major catalysts that could potentially double the share price within five years. Alibaba's e-commerce marketplaces, Taobao and Tmall, are posting steady growth in 2025. The March-ending quarter showed these businesses growing customer management revenue by 12% year over year. This primarily comes from fees charged to third-party merchants that sell goods on these marketplaces, which creates very profitable revenue streams for Alibaba. Alibaba has multiple levers to grow revenue in its e-commerce business. It credited recent growth from several initiatives, including the integration of its Cainiao logistics in its e-commerce business, in addition to new software service fees that helped capture a higher percentage of revenue from merchant activities. Another catalyst supporting the stock's recovery is strong growth in Alibaba Cloud. Enterprises are adopting artificial intelligence (AI) services at a rapid rate. Alibaba said its AI-related product revenue has grown at a triple-digit rate for seven consecutive quarters. Its investments in AI are positioning the company for strong growth over the next decade. Despite positive trends across the company, investors can buy shares at just 13.5 times this year's consensus earnings estimate -- a genuine bargain. The stock could double if investors pay a higher multiple of earnings that is consistent with the average S&P 500 price-to-earnings multiple of 30. Wall Street appears to be in the process of rerating Alibaba shares right now, making it a timely buy for the month of August. Too cheap to ignore Jennifer Saibil (Lululemon): Lululemon has been having a very tough time over the past few years, and its stock is down around 45% in 2025 alone. However, at the current price, it looks like the market is overselling it, and it's trading at a bargain price. After many years of strong growth, that growth has decelerated sharply. There are several factors working against it, including pressure in discretionary spending and increasing competition. Lululemon helped create the athleisure movement, but there are low barriers to entry in its industry. In fact, in the premium athleisure space, customers are often looking for the next important and exclusive brand. On top of that, there have been worries about how Lululemon will be affected by tariffs. It's no wonder investors have been losing enthusiasm for the stock. The 2025 fiscal first quarter (ended May 4) did little to quell the pessimism. Sales increased 7% year over year in the quarter, but comparable sales (comps) were up only 1%. Even worse, they decreased 2% in the Americas region. Management maintained its guidance for a mid-single-digit increase in revenue for the full year, but it revised its guidance down for full-year earnings per share (EPS). However, there's reason for optimism. Lululemon stock trades at a P/E ratio of only 14, and at this price, it looks like a good value. Lululemon is highly profitable with an operating margin of 18.5%. That was down 1.1 percentage points from last year in the first quarter, mostly due to tariffs. However, it's still industry-leading, way above similar athletic wear and regular apparel companies. The tariffs situation could be improving as the Trump administration continues to make deals with other countries. And in terms of other countries, although the Americas market has been disappointing, Lululemon is doing very well in China, where sales increased 22% over last year in Q1. At the current price, it could finally be time to give Lululemon stock another shot, especially if you're looking for a value stock. A turnaround is afoot at VF Corp. Jeremy Bowman (VF Corp): With the broad market at an all-time high, it may be a good time for investors to look to beaten-down stocks that could be undervalued. VF Corp. looks like one of those stocks right now. The apparel brand manager, which owns brands like Vans, The North Face, Timberland, and Dickies, has been one of the worst-performing apparel stocks in the market over the last five years. The stock is down about 85% from its peak in 2021. Weakness at Vans, a dividend cut, and broader headwinds on consumer discretionary products all weighed on the stock, but VF Corp. showed signs of a turnaround in the fiscal Q1 earnings report on Wednesday. While overall revenue was flat, the company delivered solid growth at all of its core brands except Vans, which is going through a "channel rationalization," meaning management is reducing the number of distribution points. However, Timberland was up 11%, and The North Face was up 6%. Vans, on the other hand, was down 14%, but the overall business is healthier than it might look. If management can stabilize Vans and improve profitability, the company should be on good footing. Its adjusted operating loss was much better than expected in Q1, and management's guidance calls for full-year growth in adjusted operating income and free cash flow. VF Corp. now trades at a price-to-sales ratio of just 0.5. That gives the stock upside potential if it can achieve a profit margin of just 5%, which would equal a price-to-earnings ratio of just 10 at the current P/S ratio. For a company with a set of well-known premium brands, that should be achievable. If the turnaround continues to make progress, VF could double or triple from here. Should you invest $1,000 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 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 $625,254!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,090,257!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 1,036% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 181% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of July 29, 2025 Jennifer Saibil has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Jeremy Bowman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. John Ballard has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Lululemon Athletica Inc. The Motley Fool recommends Alibaba Group. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. 3 Top Stocks to Buy With $1,000 in August was originally published by The Motley Fool
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Yahoo
What Happened to Baidu (BIDU) Stock This Year?
Key Points Baidu's stock has dropped nearly 75% from its all-time high. Its artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud businesses are expanding, but its advertising business is shriveling. The company looks cheap, but it could deserve its discount valuation. 10 stocks we like better than Baidu › Baidu (NASDAQ: BIDU), the largest online search engine provider in China, was once considered a great growth stock. It went public in 2005, and its annual revenue grew at a CAGR of 45% from 319 million yuan in 2005 to 124.5 billion yuan ($19.5 billion) in 2021. The Chinese tech giant experienced a major growth spurt after cybersecurity and censorship issues drove Alphabet's Google to shutter its search engine in mainland China in 2010. Its stock closed at a record high of $339.91 on Feb. 19, 2021, which represented a 12,489% gain from its split-adjusted IPO price of $2.70 per share. But from 2021 to 2024, Baidu's revenue only grew at a CAGR of 2%. Its ad sales cooled off as it dealt with fierce macro headwinds in China and intense competition from ByteDance's Douyin (known as TikTok in overseas markets), Tencent's Weixin (also known as WeChat), and other nimbler apps that changed how people conducted online searches. That's why its stock now trades at about $88. It's up less than 4% year to date, even as lower interest rates and milder macro headwinds drove many investors back toward tech stocks. Let's see why Baidu isn't impressing the bulls -- and what it would take for its stock to soar again. The biggest challenges for Baidu Back in 2021, Baidu generated 78% of its revenue from its online marketing services segment, which sells traditional search-based and display ads. That business is struggling to stay relevant as more internet users shift their searches to the newer mobile apps. To offset that pressure, Baidu expanded its AI Cloud platform to boost its non-online marketing services revenue. That business grew much faster than its online marketing business over the following years. In 2024, Baidu only generated 55% of its revenue from its online marketing services, while 24% of its revenue came from its non-online marketing services. The rest mainly came from its streaming video platform iQiyi (NASDAQ: IQ), which struggled over the past year as it launched fewer hit shows and attracted fewer advertisers. Metric 2021 2022 2023 2024 Q1 2025 Online marketing services revenue growth (YOY) 12% (6%) 8% (3%) (6%) Non-online marketing services revenue growth (YOY) 71% 22% 9% 12% 40% Total revenue growth 16% (1%) 9% (1%) 3% Data source: Baidu. RMB terms. YOY = Year over year. Baidu's non-online marketing services segment is growing rapidly as the AI boom drives more businesses to its AI Cloud platform -- which bundles together its ERNIE large language model (LLM) for generative AI applications, self-developed AI chips (including its Kunlun 800) for servers, data storage and analytics tools, and cloud infrastructure services. Its AI Cloud is also tethered to Apollo, its open-source software platform for driverless vehicles. Baidu's goal is to keep expanding its non-online marketing services segment to curb its dependence on its fading online marketing services segment. It's also been reportedly mulling a full spinoff or divestment of iQiyi over the past few years. That sale would free up a lot of cash for the expansion of its AI Cloud business. Why didn't Baidu's stock impress the bulls this year? For 2025, analysts expect Baidu's revenue to stay nearly flat as its EPS drops 17%. Its online marketing services and iQiyi segments should remain weak, but its AI Cloud business could grow rapidly enough to offset those declines. However, its earnings will be reduced by its higher investments in its AI Cloud platform, driverless vehicles, and fresh media content for iQiyi. That mix of flat revenue growth and rising expenses, along with the macro pressure from the unresolved tariffs and trade issues between China and the U.S., made Baidu a tough stock to love. Baidu's stock seems cheap at 12 times this year's earnings, but it might deserve that discount valuation. Meanwhile, China's e-commerce and cloud leader Alibaba -- which is growing faster and more broadly diversified -- might be a better value at 17 times this year's earnings. For 2026, analysts expect Baidu's revenue and EPS to grow 5% and 3%, respectively. That stabilization would be a step in the right direction, but Baidu would still be a slow-growth stock with limited upside potential. Unless Baidu finds fresh ways to ignite its growth -- possibly by spinning off its weaker segments -- it will likely stay in the penalty box. Should you buy stock in Baidu right now? Before you buy stock in Baidu, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Baidu 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 $625,254!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,090,257!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 1,036% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 181% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of July 29, 2025 Leo Sun has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Baidu, and Tencent. The Motley Fool recommends Alibaba Group and iQIYI. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. What Happened to Baidu (BIDU) Stock This Year? was originally published by The Motley Fool 登入存取你的投資組合
