We use cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience. This includes personalizing content and advertising. To learn more, click here. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies, revised Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.
You are being directed to ZacksTrade, a division of LBMZ Securities and licensed broker-dealer. ZacksTrade and Zacks.com are separate companies. The web link between the two companies is not a solicitation or offer to invest in a particular security or type of security. ZacksTrade does not endorse or adopt any particular investment strategy, any analyst opinion/rating/report or any approach to evaluating individual securities.
If you wish to go to ZacksTrade, click OK. If you do not, click Cancel.
The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Facebook, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon and Apple
Read MoreHide Full Article
For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL –May 29, 2019 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Facebook , Microsoft (MSFT - Free Report) , Alphabet (GOOGL - Free Report) , Amazon (AMZN - Free Report) and Apple (AAPL - Free Report) .
Here are highlights from Tuesday’s Analyst Blog:
Will the Campaign to Break Up Big Tech Succeed?
Earlier this month, a consensus emerged among Democratic contenders that Big Tech should be broken up. Kamala Harris feels that “we have to seriously take a look” at dismantling the monopolies of the likes of Facebook. Joe Biden pitched in that such a move is “something we should take a really hard look at.”
Even staunch Republicans like Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley are making similar noises about the subject. But leading the pack is Elizabeth Warren, who has promised to oversee a breakup of Big Tech if she wins the presidency. Warren’s proposals transcend contemporary antitrust law’s focus on pricing.
Instead, she argues that breaking up such tech majors would encourage innovation and promote competition by allowing startups to flourish. This goes a step beyond earlier proposals which call for greater scrutiny of mergers in the tech arena. However, it is to be seen whether such a proposal is politically feasible for a likely Democrat successor to President Trump.
Greater Scrutiny on the Big Five
The top five U.S. tech majors are also the five most valuable companies in America. And over the years, the level of antitrust scrutiny has only increased for them. In the late 1990s, Microsoft was scrutinized for the same. More recently, huge fines were slapped on Alphabet by European antitrust regulators.
In contrast, U.S. regulators have taken a favorable view of the incredible growth of Big Tech. Better smart phones, free online services and cheap e-commerce are believed to be the favorable outcomes of their growing power and influence. This has led U.S. regulators to believe that the success of tech majors has had a positive effect on competitive markets.
However, it is equally true that tech majors have been crushing suppliers as well as nascent competition. In the process, they have employed a range of questionable tactics, as was witnessed during Amazon’s ruthless price wars against its competitors.
The situation has been quite similar when it comes to Apple’s authoritative management of its app stores and Facebook’s questionable data security practices, which resulted in numerous public scandals. Of the big five, Microsoft and Facebook carry a Zack Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Is Warren’s Proposal Mostly Symbolic?
In March, Warren proposed that Amazon, Facebook and Alphabet should be broken up. Meanwhile, major restrictions should be imposed on how Apple and Microsoft go about doing business.
According to her plan, a company with annual global revenues in excess of $25 billion which “offers to the public an online marketplace, an exchange, or a platform for connecting third parties” should be designated as “platform utility.” This entity would be prevented from owning any participants on such a platform.
The core business models of Apple and Microsoft would remain largely unaffected by such regulations. But it would have severe major implications for the three other members of this elite group. At the same time, the present day structure of Microsoft’s Xbox Store and Apple’s iOS App Store would be rendered invalid.
But Warren has cautiously omitted all references to the kind of impact these new regulations would have on Big Tech. This is believed to be proof of the fact that her proposal is mostly symbolic rather than practical.
Conclusion
Warren’s proposal to regulate Big Tech has found favor among other Democratic contenders. However, the strong link between leading Democrats and Silicon Valley giants make such regulations unviable in the real world. Further, her proposals run counter to conventional antitrust laws which focus on pricing and consumer interest.
This is why it is unreasonable to expect a future White House to go so far as to attempt to break up big tech. However, a successful Democratic bid for the presidency would bring such companies under considerable regulatory scrutiny. This would have major implications for users, suppliers and competitors.
More Stock News: This Is Bigger than the iPhone!
It could become the mother of all technological revolutions. Apple sold a mere 1 billion iPhones in 10 years but a new breakthrough is expected to generate more than 27 billion devices in just 3 years, creating a $1.7 trillion market.
Zacks has just released a Special Report that spotlights this fast-emerging phenomenon and 6 tickers for taking advantage of it. If you don't buy now, you may kick yourself in 2020.
Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit http://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.
See More Zacks Research for These Tickers
Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:
Image: Bigstock
The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Facebook, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon and Apple
For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL –May 29, 2019 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Facebook , Microsoft (MSFT - Free Report) , Alphabet (GOOGL - Free Report) , Amazon (AMZN - Free Report) and Apple (AAPL - Free Report) .
Here are highlights from Tuesday’s Analyst Blog:
Will the Campaign to Break Up Big Tech Succeed?
Earlier this month, a consensus emerged among Democratic contenders that Big Tech should be broken up. Kamala Harris feels that “we have to seriously take a look” at dismantling the monopolies of the likes of Facebook. Joe Biden pitched in that such a move is “something we should take a really hard look at.”
Even staunch Republicans like Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley are making similar noises about the subject. But leading the pack is Elizabeth Warren, who has promised to oversee a breakup of Big Tech if she wins the presidency. Warren’s proposals transcend contemporary antitrust law’s focus on pricing.
Instead, she argues that breaking up such tech majors would encourage innovation and promote competition by allowing startups to flourish. This goes a step beyond earlier proposals which call for greater scrutiny of mergers in the tech arena. However, it is to be seen whether such a proposal is politically feasible for a likely Democrat successor to President Trump.
Greater Scrutiny on the Big Five
The top five U.S. tech majors are also the five most valuable companies in America. And over the years, the level of antitrust scrutiny has only increased for them. In the late 1990s, Microsoft was scrutinized for the same. More recently, huge fines were slapped on Alphabet by European antitrust regulators.
In contrast, U.S. regulators have taken a favorable view of the incredible growth of Big Tech. Better smart phones, free online services and cheap e-commerce are believed to be the favorable outcomes of their growing power and influence. This has led U.S. regulators to believe that the success of tech majors has had a positive effect on competitive markets.
However, it is equally true that tech majors have been crushing suppliers as well as nascent competition. In the process, they have employed a range of questionable tactics, as was witnessed during Amazon’s ruthless price wars against its competitors.
The situation has been quite similar when it comes to Apple’s authoritative management of its app stores and Facebook’s questionable data security practices, which resulted in numerous public scandals. Of the big five, Microsoft and Facebook carry a Zack Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Is Warren’s Proposal Mostly Symbolic?
In March, Warren proposed that Amazon, Facebook and Alphabet should be broken up. Meanwhile, major restrictions should be imposed on how Apple and Microsoft go about doing business.
According to her plan, a company with annual global revenues in excess of $25 billion which “offers to the public an online marketplace, an exchange, or a platform for connecting third parties” should be designated as “platform utility.” This entity would be prevented from owning any participants on such a platform.
The core business models of Apple and Microsoft would remain largely unaffected by such regulations. But it would have severe major implications for the three other members of this elite group. At the same time, the present day structure of Microsoft’s Xbox Store and Apple’s iOS App Store would be rendered invalid.
But Warren has cautiously omitted all references to the kind of impact these new regulations would have on Big Tech. This is believed to be proof of the fact that her proposal is mostly symbolic rather than practical.
Conclusion
Warren’s proposal to regulate Big Tech has found favor among other Democratic contenders. However, the strong link between leading Democrats and Silicon Valley giants make such regulations unviable in the real world. Further, her proposals run counter to conventional antitrust laws which focus on pricing and consumer interest.
This is why it is unreasonable to expect a future White House to go so far as to attempt to break up big tech. However, a successful Democratic bid for the presidency would bring such companies under considerable regulatory scrutiny. This would have major implications for users, suppliers and competitors.
More Stock News: This Is Bigger than the iPhone!
It could become the mother of all technological revolutions. Apple sold a mere 1 billion iPhones in 10 years but a new breakthrough is expected to generate more than 27 billion devices in just 3 years, creating a $1.7 trillion market.
Zacks has just released a Special Report that spotlights this fast-emerging phenomenon and 6 tickers for taking advantage of it. If you don't buy now, you may kick yourself in 2020.
Click here for the 6 trades >>
Media Contact
Zacks Investment Research
800-767-3771 ext. 9339
support@zacks.com
http://www.zacks.com
Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit http://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.