Latest news with #Lycos
Axios
5 days ago
- Business
- Axios
How Musk's xAI could start to make sense — and maybe money
Elon Musk's xAI, even more than rival AI startup leaders like OpenAI and Anthropic, is a cash incinerator — and despite the company's soaring valuations, it has little prospect of building significant revenue, let alone profit. Yes, but: There's one niche of a future AI business ecosystem that xAI fits perfectly. It could end up as the Fox News of the AI infosphere — a right-skewed source of truth for those who view mainstream alternatives as too "woke." The big picture: Musk is trying to raise an additional $5 billion for xAI, and he's turning to his own companies for cash — including SpaceX and Tesla — presumably because it's convenient and free of strings. It could also mean that outside investors are tiring of throwing money at the company, which has already raised more than $20 billion in debt and equity but continues to show little return. By the numbers: xAI's AI business is expected to bring in $500 million in revenue this year, per Bloomberg, chiefly from API fees and subscriptions. Now that Musk has rolled X into xAI, xAI can add the former Twitter's $2.26 billion estimated ad revenue (per eMarketer). That figure may look paltry next to the income of social media giants like Meta and YouTube, but it's transformative for xAI's top line. The company also made headlines last week with an announcement that it has a deal for "up to $200 million" with the Pentagon, which is exploring uses for advanced AI and has also made similar deals with OpenAI, Google and Anthropic. So the revenue line is beginning to move up — but hardly enough to justify the $200 billion valuation that Musk is reportedly seeking from new investors in xAI, or even cover its estimated $1 billion-a-month burn rate. The company does have some real assets: Its foundation model, Grok, has matured to a level where, for the moment, it's beating rivals like OpenAI's GPT, Anthropic's Claude and Google's Gemini on a variety of benchmark tests. And its Colossus data center in Memphis is one of the largest AI development facilities in the world today. But turning those assets into cash flow is going to be very hard. The AI model business is ridiculously competitive, with those three rivals all boasting larger customer bases, more impressive research records and better reputations. It's unlikely that the U.S. market will support four separate, wildly expensive and largely duplicative frontier-model makers. That would leave Musk's company as the AI equivalent of the losers in the 1990s search engine wars. Who remembers Lycos or Excite? xAI's biggest advantage is its integration with X. It gets real-time news and information from X users at the same time that it can promote its chatbot's services to them. The trouble is, this edge is also an Achilles' heel for xAI, because X itself has become such a troubled media environment. Since Musk bought Twitter in 2022 and renamed it X, he has opened the doors wide to racists, extremists, Nazis and other hate groups — in the name of free speech. That's had an impact not only on the social media platform, which has seen an exodus of left-leaning users and nervous advertisers, but also on xAI's Grok, which recently went on a pro-Hitler posting bender. What's next: The likeliest path for xAI is to continue to cultivate and refine its appeal to the deep red side of America's red-blue split. Google, Apple, Microsoft, Meta, Amazon, OpenAI, Anthropic and other startups are all in a race to connect consumers and businesses to AI. The key differentiator will be how well they integrate AI with the rest of the tech we use every day — whether that's phones and desktop software, education and medical platforms, or cars and TV sets. But some potential AI users will also choose based on ideology. Many of these users don't want their chatbots telling them that Donald Trump lost the 2020 election, that ivermectin is not a cure-all, and that climate change is real. There might even be some who don't mind hearing that Hitler was an admirably decisive leader. AI makers who want their chatbots to provide a middle-of-the-road consensus reality may not satisfy such users. That opens a lane for Musk's Grok — which can be intentionally provocative and, at one point, was instructed to "not shy away from making claims which are politically incorrect." Of course, it's hard to predict what the size of that market is, or how xAI could tap it for enough revenue to support a ten-figure valuation.
Mint
05-07-2025
- Mint
Answer engine: How Google's AI Mode is reshaping search
I come from the era of Lycos, Yahoo and AltaVista. And I find it amusing that we have a generation of people who will probably say — what are those? For over two decades, Google search has worked by indexing websites, like a massive library catalog. It scanned and stored pages and then showed you that list of blue links to click. Finding what you want can often be frustrating: it's up to you to sort out relevant and useful links from junk, scams and ads. But it's familiar. With the world busy being transformed by AI, it's only inevitable that search will have to keep up. Already, users turn to ChatGPT instead of 'Googling'. If Google doesn't reimagine its search engine, it could find itself at a huge disadvantage. If you look at the search page, at the extreme left you'll see a new tab — AI Mode. For now it's optional, but in the near future it may not be. This goes beyond just pointing you to sources. Instead, it aims to directly answer your questions, summarise information, and even help you complete tasks, all from the search page itself. This new approach uses advanced AI models from Gemini to understand context, generate natural language responses, and combine information from many sources in real time. The result? You spend less time clicking around and more time getting immediate, conversational answers. It's changing from a search engine to an answer engine. You may have already noticed AI Overviews, a mini version of AI Mode, which appears for certain searches. That gives you a good idea of what the full AI Mode is shaping up to become. Ready or not, here I come But are we ready for this seismic shift in something that we do several times a day? Probably not. In fact, it's going to be a bit of a shock. Even though it sounds good to have some entity do all the hard work of looking through pages and coming up with a neat and quick explanation with no extra clicking, saving us time and effort, it's just not what we're accustomed to. Inevitably, many users will just want to do things the old way. The AI shift raises other questions. Can we still see those linked websites? They're actually still there, but tucked away further down and no longer the first thing we see. For those of us who love to compare different sources and decide for ourselves, this new setup might feel a bit limiting. Another big question concerns the choice of what content is summarised. With the old way, the choice was more or less ours. Now, it's the AI that chooses and we just have to trust it. As AI is notorious for making mistakes and downright hallucinating, the accuracy of the information in summaries we get will be in question. The sources are given, but they will not be so easy to see. When Google's AI picks which pieces of information to highlight first, it is in effect deciding what story gets told. That raises questions of fairness and transparency, and whether we still have the freedom to explore the web on our own terms. On a practical level, some people might love the new mode. If you're asking a simple question like the age of a celebrity or the weather tomorrow it's fast and easy. But for more complicated topics, or when you want to get a feel for different perspectives, you end up doing more work to find the details. Threat to the open internet? There are ripple effects beyond just our own screens. Many websites and publishers rely on us clicking through to survive. If fewer people visit their pages because links are presented differently, these sites may lose ad revenue. Over time, we may see less freely available content, and the open, diverse internet we once took for granted could start to shrink. This doesn't mean it's all doom and gloom. Some people will embrace this new way of searching and appreciate not having to wade through dozens of links. Others will miss the feeling of exploring and stumbling upon unexpected gems. In the end, each user will need to decide how much to rely on these AI summaries and how often we still want to dig deeper. Maybe we'll learn to balance the convenience of a quick answer with the satisfaction of discovering things for ourselves. AI Mode is currently available to users in the US and India, where Google has a massive user base. Feedback from users is needed before the feature is rolled out fully and everywhere. You can be sure Google will have a close eye on the reception. The New Normal: The world is at an inflexion point. Artificial Intelligence is set to be as massive a revolution as the Internet has been. The option to just stay away from AI will not be available to most people, as all the tech we use takes the AI route. This column series introduces AI to the non-techie in an easy and relatable way, aiming to demystify and help a user to actually put the technology to good use in everyday life. Mala Bhargava is most often described as a 'veteran' writer who has contributed to several publications in India since 1995. Her domain is personal tech and she writes to simplify and demystify technology for a non-techie audience.
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Lycos Energy Inc. Announces First Quarter Financial Results and Termination of Strategic Review Process
Calgary, Alberta--(Newsfile Corp. - May 29, 2025) - Lycos Energy Inc. (TSXV: LCX) ("Lycos" or the "Company") is pleased to announce its operating and financial results for the three months ended March 31, 2025. Selected financial and operating information is outlined below and should be read with Lycos' unaudited condensed interim consolidated financial statements and related management's discussion and analysis ("MD&A") for the three months ended March 31, 2025. These filings are available on SEDAR+ at and the Company's website at Financial and Operating Highlights Three months ended March 31, % change($ in thousands, except per share)2025 2024Total petroleum and natural gas sales, net of blending(1)26,842 23,892 12%Adjusted funds flow from operations(1)12,512 9,591 30%Per share - basic $ 0.24$ 0.18 33%Per share - diluted $ 0.23$ 0.18 28%Net income (loss)2,373$ (1,414 )268%Per share - basic $ 0.04$ (0.03 )233%Per share - diluted $ 0.04$ (0.03 )233%Capital expenditures - exploration & development22,922 19,450 18%Capital expenditures - net acquisitions & dispositions22,922 19,450 18%Adjusted working capital (net debt)(1)(25,498 )(27,148 )(6)%Weighted average shares outstanding (thousands) Basic53,238 53,081 0%Diluted53,532 53,081 1%Average daily production: Crude oil (bbls/d)3,940 3,804 4%Natural gas (mcf/d)793 218 264%Total (boe/d)4,072 3,840 6%Realized prices: Crude oil ($/bbl)(2)75.37 68.81 10%Natural gas ($/mcf)1.23 2.07 (41)%Total ($/boe)73.17 68.27 7%Operating netback ($/boe)(1) Petroleum and natural gas revenues(2)73.17 68.27 7% Realized gain (loss) on financial derivatives(0.06 )1.00 (106)% Royalties(10.14 )(10.61 )(4)% Net operating expenses(1)(22.96 )(25.48 )(10)% Transportation expenses(1.57 )(1.69 )(7)%Operating netback, including financial derivatives ($/boe)(1)38.44 31.49 22%Adjusted funds flow from operations ($/boe)(1)34.14 27.45 24%(1) See Non-IFRS Measures, Non-IFRS Financial Ratios and Capital Management Measures.(2) Realized prices are based on revenue, net of blending expense. Q1 2025 Financial and Operating Highlights Highlights for the three months ended March 31, 2025 include: Average production volumes increased to 4,072 boe/d (97% crude oil) in the first quarter of 2025 compared to 3,840 boe/d (99% crude oil) in the first quarter of 2024, representing a 6% increase. Realized adjusted funds flow from operations(1) of $12.5 million in the first quarter of 2025 compared to $9.6 million in the first quarter of 2024, representing a 30% increase. Operating netback(1) of $38.44 per boe in the first quarter of 2025, representing a 22% increase from $31.49 per boe in the comparable period of 2024. Executed a $22.9 million capital expenditure program, drilling and completing 8.0 wells (7.9 net wells), of which 7.0 wells (6.9 net wells) were on stream by the end of the quarter. This included a new upper Waseca pool discovery and two additional Middle Waseca delineation wells at Moose Lake, which achieved average IP30(2) of 262 bbl/d and an IP60(2) of 254 bbl/d for the three wells. Of the Q1 2025 capital expenditures, $1.4 million relates to the facility construction of a Moose Lake pad for future drills and $1.1 million was spent on an additional well on this pad, which was rig released and commenced production in Q2 2025. The Company invested $0.7 million on land and seismic in the quarter. Exit net debt(1) of $25.5 million, representing 0.5X annualized net debt to adjusted funds flow ratio(1). (1) See Non-IFRS Measures, Non-IFRS Financial Ratios and Capital Management Measures.(2) See Disclosure of Oil & Gas Information, "Short-Term Results". Outlook Due to the current low and volatile commodity price environment and global economic uncertainty, Lycos has terminated its previously announced strategic review process and temporarily suspend its capital expenditures program until September 2025. The Company believes current market conditions are not conducive to a transaction beneficial to shareholders and remains focused on maintaining a conservative balance sheet, financial discipline and operational stability. Lycos will continue to monitor commodity prices and maintain optionality to accelerate the resumption of budgeted capital expenditures as the year and commodity price environment develop. Anticipated Q2 2025 production is approximately 4,000 boe/d (98% crude oil) and estimated total capital expenditures to date are $28 million. For the balance of 2025 we anticipate capital expenditures to be in the range of $7 million to $15 million under current pricing conditions. About Lycos Lycos is an oil-focused, exploration, development and production company based in Calgary, Alberta, operating high-quality, heavy-oil, development assets in the Lloydminster and Greater Lloydminster area. Additional Information For further information, please contact: Dave Burton President and Chief Executive OfficerT: (403) 616-3327E: dburton@ Lindsay GoosVice President, Finance and Chief Financial OfficerT: (403) 542-3183E: lgoos@ Reader Advisories Forward-Looking and Cautionary Statements Certain statements contained within this press release constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements other than statements of historical fact may be forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "anticipate", "outlook", "plan", "endeavor", "continue", "estimate", "evaluate", "expect", "forecast", "monitor", "may", "will", "can", "able", "potential", "target", "intend", "consider", "focus", "identify", "use", "utilize", "manage", "maintain", "remain", "result", "cultivate", "could", "should", "believe" and similar expressions (including negatives and variations thereof). Lycos believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable as of the date hereof, but no assurance can be given that such expectations will prove to be correct and such forward-looking statements should not be unduly relied upon. Without limitation, this press release contains forward-looking statements pertaining to: Lycos' business strategy, objectives, strength and focus; the suspension of the Company's capital program and drilling plans until September 2025; the Company's outlook and operational results for the remainder of 2025; the Company's expectations regarding recently drilled wells, drilling plans, estimated future capital expenditures and growth forecasts; expectations that the new double-stack multi-lateral drilling technique will result in capital cost-savings; expectations regarding commodity prices and heavy oil differentials; the performance characteristics of the Company's oil and natural gas properties; the ability of the Company to achieve drilling success consistent with management's expectations; expectations in respect of the Company's wells, including anticipated benefits and results; and the source of funding for the Company's activities. The forward-looking statements and information are based on certain key expectations and assumptions made by Lycos, including, but not limited to: expectations and assumptions concerning the business plan of Lycos; the timing of and success of future drilling, development and completion activities; the geological characteristics of Lycos' properties; prevailing and future commodity prices, price volatility, price differentials and the actual prices received for the Company's products; the availability and performance of drilling rigs, facilities, pipelines and other oilfield services; the timing of past operations and activities in the planned areas of focus; the drilling, completion and tie-in of wells being completed as planned; the performance of new and existing wells; the application of existing drilling and fracturing techniques; prevailing weather and break-up conditions; general economic conditions; royalty regimes and exchange rates; the application of regulatory and licensing requirements; the continued availability of capital and skilled personnel; the ability to maintain or grow its credit facility; the accuracy of Lycos' geological interpretation of its drilling and land opportunities, including the ability of seismic activity to enhance such interpretation; and Lycos' ability to execute its plans and strategies. Although Lycos believes that the expectations and assumptions on which such forward-looking statements and information are based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements and information because Lycos can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. By its nature, such forward-looking information is subject to various risks and uncertainties, which could cause the actual results and expectations to differ materially from the anticipated results or expectations expressed. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: incorrect assessments of the value of benefits to be obtained from acquisitions and exploration and development programs; fluctuations in commodity prices (including pursuant to determinations by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and other countries (collectively referred to as OPEC+) regarding production levels) and the risk of an extended period of low oil and natural gas prices; changes in industry regulations and political landscape both domestically and abroad; the impact of tariffs and other restrictive trade measures imposed or threatened by the U.S. administration, the Canadian administration and foreign governments, including retaliatory or countermeasures, on global economic markets, market volatility and the demand and/or market price for the Company's products; wars (including Russia's military actions in Ukraine and the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza); hostilities; civil insurrections; foreign exchange or interest rates; increased operating and capital costs due to inflationary pressures (actual and anticipated); volatility in the stock market and financial system; impacts of pandemics; the retention of key management and employees; and risks with respect to unplanned third-party pipeline outages, including in respect of safety, asset integrity and shutting in production. Ongoing military actions between Russia and Ukraine have the potential to threaten the supply of oil and gas from the region. The long-term impacts of the actions between these nations remains uncertain. Please refer to the Company's annual information form for the year ended December 31, 2024, and the MD&A for additional risk factors relating to Lycos, which can be accessed either on the Company's website at or under the Company's SEDAR+ profile at Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on this forward-looking information, which is given as of the date hereof, and to not use such forward-looking information for anything other than its intended purpose. Lycos undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. Disclosure of Oil and Gas Information Unit Cost Calculation. The term barrels of oil equivalent ("boe") may be misleading, particularly if used in isolation. A boe conversion ratio of six thousand cubic feet per barrel (6 Mcf/bbl) of natural gas to barrels of oil equivalence is based on an energy equivalency conversion method primarily applicable at the burner tip and does not represent a value equivalency at the wellhead. All boe conversions in the report are derived from converting gas to oil in the ratio mix of six thousand cubic feet of gas to one barrel of oil. Product Types. Throughout this press release, "crude oil" or "oil" refers to heavy crude oil product types as defined by National Instrument 51-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Oil and Gas Activities ("NI 51-101"). Short Term Results. References in this press release to production test rates, initial test production rates, initial production rates (including IP30 and IP60) and other short-term production rates are useful in confirming the presence of hydrocarbons, however such rates are not determinative of the rates at which such wells will continue to production, nor is it indicative of future production capability, decline and ultimate reserves. While encouraging, readers are cautioned not to place reliance on such rates in calculating the aggregate production for Lycos. A pressure transient analysis or well-test interpretation has not been carried out in respect of all wells. Accordingly, the Company cautions that the test results should be considered to be preliminary. Non-IFRS Measures, Non-IFRS Financial Ratios and Capital Management Measures This press release includes various specified financial measures, including non-IFRS financial measures, non-IFRS financial ratios and capital management measures as further described herein. These measures do not have a standardized meaning prescribed by International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS") and, therefore, may not be comparable with the calculation of similar measures by other companies. "Adjusted working capital (net debt) (capital management measure)" is calculated as current assets less current liabilities, excluding the current portion of decommissioning liabilities and financial derivative receivable and liabilities. Adjusted working capital (Net Debt) is a capital management measure which management uses to assess the Company's liquidity. See the MD&A for a detailed calculation and reconciliation of adjusted working capital (net debt) to the most directly comparable measure presented in accordance with IFRS. "Adjusted funds flow from operations (capital management measure)" is funds flow is calculated by taking cash flow from operating activities and adding back changes in non-cash working capital. Adjusted funds flow is further calculated by adding back decommissioning costs incurred and transaction costs. Management considers adjusted funds flow from operations to be a key measure to assess the performance of the Company's oil and gas properties and the Company's ability to fund future capital investment. Adjusted funds flow from operations is an indicator of operating performance as it varies in response to production levels and management of costs. Changes in non-cash working capital, decommissioning costs incurred and transaction costs vary from period to period and management believes that excluding the impact of these provides a useful measure of Lycos' ability to generate the funds necessary to manage the capital needs of the Company. See the MD&A for a detailed calculation and reconciliation of adjusted funds flow from operations to the most directly comparable measure presented in accordance with IFRS. "Capital expenditures (non-IFRS financial measure)" includes exploration and development capital, facilities, land and seismic and acquisitions and dispositions. Management considers capital expenditures to be a key measure to assess the Company's capital investment in exploration and production activity, as well as property acquisitions and dispositions. The directly comparable IFRS measure to capital expenditures is net cash used in investing activities. "Net debt to adjusted funds flow from operations ratio (non-IFRS financial ratio)" is calculated as net debt divided by adjusted funds flow from operations for the applicable period. Lycos utilizes net debt to adjusted funds flow from operations to measure the Company's overall debt position and to measure the strength of the Company's balance sheet. Lycos monitors this ratio and uses this as a key measure in making decisions regarding financing, capital expenditures and shareholder returns. "Net operating expenses (non-IFRS financial measure)" is operating expenses, less processing income primarily generated by third party volumes at processing facilities where the Company has an ownership interest. The Company's principal business is not that of a midstream entity whose activities are dedicated to earning processing and other infrastructure payments. Where the Company has excess capacity at its facilities, it will look to process third party volumes as a means to reduce the cost of operating/owning the facility. "Operating netback (non-IFRS financial measure)" is petroleum and natural gas revenues, less royalties, less net operating costs and transportation expenses, excluding the effects of financial derivatives. These metrics can also be calculated on a per boe basis, which results in them being considered a non-IFRS financial ratio. Management considers operating netback an important measure to evaluate Lycos' operational performance, as it demonstrates field level profitability relative to current commodity prices. See the MD&A for a detailed calculation and reconciliation of operating netback per boe to the most directly comparable measure presented in accordance with IFRS. "Operating netback, including financial derivatives" is calculated as petroleum and natural gas revenues, less royalties, less net operating costs and transportation expenses. "Total petroleum and natural gas sales, net of blending (non-IFRS financial measure)" is total petroleum and natural gas sales, net of blending expense to compare realized pricing to benchmark pricing. This is calculated by deducting the Company's blending expense from petroleum and natural gas sales. Blending expense is recorded within blending and transportation expense in the condensed interim consolidated financial statements. See the MD&A for a detailed calculation and reconciliation of total petroleum and natural gas sales, net of blending, to the most directly comparable measure presented in accordance with IFRS. Please refer to the MD&A on pages 14 to 16 for additional information relating to specified financial measures, including non-IFRS financial measures, non-IFRS financial ratios and capital management measures. The MD&A can be accessed either on the Company's website or under the Company's SEDAR+ profile on Abbreviations bbl barrels of oil bbl/d barrels of oil per day boe barrels of oil equivalent boe/d barrels of oil equivalent per day Mbbl thousand barrels of oil Mboe thousand barrels of oil equivalent Mcf thousand cubic feet MMbbl million barrels of oil MMboe million barrels of oil equivalent MMcf million cubic feet Q1 first financial quarter (January 1 - March 31) Q2 second financial quarter (April 1 - June 30) All dollar figures included herein are presented in Canadian dollars, unless otherwise noted. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. To view the source version of this press release, please visit Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Correction or Not: This Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stock Is Worth Buying for the Long Haul
Alphabet put AI to good use decades before it was cool. Ongoing innovation and massive resources should keep this company ahead in the AI race. Investors who bought in early have seen huge long-term gains, and the stock still looks affordable. 10 stocks we like better than Alphabet › I thought of Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL) as an artificial intelligence (AI) specialist long before I saw it as a business or an investment idea. The underlying Google organization started its game-changing search engine in the late 1990s. I studied information science and AI at the time (go Noles!), and was fascinated with Google's search engine. Older alternatives like Lycos, WebCrawler, and Alta Vista could also deliver helpful search results but only if you knew how to tweak your queries just right. It was a lot of work to design search strings like (Motley AND Fool AND investing) AND NOT (scam OR speculation), hoping to find the exact thing I'm looking for The magic of Google's search engine is that it went a step further. The search algorithm has become a meme nowadays as it steers web users in certain directions and content publishers strive to capture interest with various details. But back then, it was a revelation to see Google's search tool anticipate what the user is really looking for. The top results were even ranked in a sensible way without detailed instructions. These unique qualities were later copied in some way by every serious rival. They are built on deep text analysis -- also known as machine learning or artificial intelligence. Not much has changed after more than 25 years. Google kept improving its search engine, surrounded it with other AI-based tools such as Google Translate and the Google Maps navigation functions, and made AI easily available to anybody. Long before adopting the Alphabet moniker, Google was an AI expert for the masses. So I wasn't surprised when the company had a large language model (LLM) ready to go just a few months after OpenAI released its ChatGPT 3 platform. If anything, I can't wait to see what Alphabet still hides behind the AI lab's closed doors today. Alphabet's Google arm remains unbeatable in the online search and advertising market -- to a large extent because of its longtime AI commitment. The Gemini LLM is also a leading ChatGPT challenger, and is already integrated into the popular Gmail and Google Docs tools. The classic Google Search experience got an AI mode in March 2025, too. The Gemini system is going places. Google's AI competence is simply not up for discussion. I'm talking about a proven leader here, with an enormous amount of engineering and financial resources to throw behind the next big idea. Google (and Alphabet) has been very kind to longtime investors. If you invested just $1,000 when Google hit the stock market in August 2004, that investment would be worth more than $63,700 on May 13, 2025. Still, the stock has never looked overvalued. Even now, about two and a half years into the ChatGPT-powered AI boom, Alphabet's valuation ratios look downright affordable. AI rivals like Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) can't hold a candle to Alphabet's value-investing appeal: AI Stock Market Capitalization Price to Earnings (P/E) Price to Sales (P/S) Price to Free Cash Flow (P/FCF) Alphabet $1.95 trillion 17.8 5.4 26.0 Microsoft $3.33 trillion 34.6 12.3 48.0 Nvidia $3.19 trillion 44.4 24.4 52.4 Data collected from on May 13, 2025. Alphabet's stock price could double and still compare favorably to Microsoft and Nvidia's valuation ratios. I'll agree that Nvidia has earned its premium price via unbeatable business growth, but Alphabet's sales and earnings are rising faster than Microsoft's. Is Alphabet's stock undervalued or Microsoft's overpriced? You be the judge. Let's just say that I only own one of these two AI stocks, and my choice isn't headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Alphabet has come a long way from the Stanford garage of its youth, and it's still a thrilling growth story. With or without broad market corrections along the way, I'm almost always a buyer of Alphabet's stock. It's only more tempting in times like these, as the stock trades 23% below February's all-time highs. Before you buy stock in Alphabet, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 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 $613,951!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $796,353!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 948% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 170% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join . See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of May 12, 2025 Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Anders Bylund has positions in Alphabet and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Microsoft, and Nvidia. 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. Correction or Not: This Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stock Is Worth Buying for the Long Haul was originally published by The Motley Fool
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Correction or Not: This Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stock Is Worth Buying for the Long Haul
Alphabet put AI to good use decades before it was cool. Ongoing innovation and massive resources should keep this company ahead in the AI race. Investors who bought in early have seen huge long-term gains, and the stock still looks affordable. 10 stocks we like better than Alphabet › I thought of Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL) as an artificial intelligence (AI) specialist long before I saw it as a business or an investment idea. The underlying Google organization started its game-changing search engine in the late 1990s. I studied information science and AI at the time (go Noles!), and was fascinated with Google's search engine. Older alternatives like Lycos, WebCrawler, and Alta Vista could also deliver helpful search results but only if you knew how to tweak your queries just right. It was a lot of work to design search strings like (Motley AND Fool AND investing) AND NOT (scam OR speculation), hoping to find the exact thing I'm looking for The magic of Google's search engine is that it went a step further. The search algorithm has become a meme nowadays as it steers web users in certain directions and content publishers strive to capture interest with various details. But back then, it was a revelation to see Google's search tool anticipate what the user is really looking for. The top results were even ranked in a sensible way without detailed instructions. These unique qualities were later copied in some way by every serious rival. They are built on deep text analysis -- also known as machine learning or artificial intelligence. Not much has changed after more than 25 years. Google kept improving its search engine, surrounded it with other AI-based tools such as Google Translate and the Google Maps navigation functions, and made AI easily available to anybody. Long before adopting the Alphabet moniker, Google was an AI expert for the masses. So I wasn't surprised when the company had a large language model (LLM) ready to go just a few months after OpenAI released its ChatGPT 3 platform. If anything, I can't wait to see what Alphabet still hides behind the AI lab's closed doors today. Alphabet's Google arm remains unbeatable in the online search and advertising market -- to a large extent because of its longtime AI commitment. The Gemini LLM is also a leading ChatGPT challenger, and is already integrated into the popular Gmail and Google Docs tools. The classic Google Search experience got an AI mode in March 2025, too. The Gemini system is going places. Google's AI competence is simply not up for discussion. I'm talking about a proven leader here, with an enormous amount of engineering and financial resources to throw behind the next big idea. Google (and Alphabet) has been very kind to longtime investors. If you invested just $1,000 when Google hit the stock market in August 2004, that investment would be worth more than $63,700 on May 13, 2025. Still, the stock has never looked overvalued. Even now, about two and a half years into the ChatGPT-powered AI boom, Alphabet's valuation ratios look downright affordable. AI rivals like Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) can't hold a candle to Alphabet's value-investing appeal: AI Stock Market Capitalization Price to Earnings (P/E) Price to Sales (P/S) Price to Free Cash Flow (P/FCF) Alphabet $1.95 trillion 17.8 5.4 26.0 Microsoft $3.33 trillion 34.6 12.3 48.0 Nvidia $3.19 trillion 44.4 24.4 52.4 Data collected from on May 13, 2025. Alphabet's stock price could double and still compare favorably to Microsoft and Nvidia's valuation ratios. I'll agree that Nvidia has earned its premium price via unbeatable business growth, but Alphabet's sales and earnings are rising faster than Microsoft's. Is Alphabet's stock undervalued or Microsoft's overpriced? You be the judge. Let's just say that I only own one of these two AI stocks, and my choice isn't headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Alphabet has come a long way from the Stanford garage of its youth, and it's still a thrilling growth story. With or without broad market corrections along the way, I'm almost always a buyer of Alphabet's stock. It's only more tempting in times like these, as the stock trades 23% below February's all-time highs. Before you buy stock in Alphabet, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 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 $613,951!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $796,353!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 948% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 170% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join . See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of May 12, 2025 Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Anders Bylund has positions in Alphabet and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Microsoft, and Nvidia. 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. Correction or Not: This Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stock Is Worth Buying for the Long Haul was originally published by The Motley Fool Sign in to access your portfolio
