Previewing META’s ConPreviewing META’s Connect event today starting @ ...

META Connect is the company’s annual event focused on AI and virtual, augmented, and mixed realities, aka the Metaverse, and it begins today with the keynote at 1PM ET, followed by the Developer State of the Union at 2:45pm ET. We think catalyst potential is relatively high, and we share our thoughts on what investors should expect to hear at Connect in this note.

Expert Call Recap: Monic Desai, Ex-META Head of Global Connectivity Po...

On Friday, James Ratzer, European Telecom analyst, and Dan Salmon, US Internet analyst, spoke with Monica Desai, the former Head of Global Connectivity Policy at META. Topics included the economics of the European Fair Share debate; where the European Commission (EC) stands on its Fair Share consultation; the approach Big Tech has taken in its defense, and potential actions by the EC.

META Conversations: Messaging monetization continues to ramp and suppo...

META’s Conversations event (see our preview for both it and Connect HERE) featured several new announcements which highlighted the company’s unique position in the business messaging space and how META continues to slowly but surely tap into a significant revenue opportunity after many years of focusing on consumer and business usage growth. In this brief note, we review the major announcements and our take on each of them.

Can Tech Stocks Rise in a "Higher for Longer" Fed Mandate? YES is Our ...

Wedbush Morning Call - Sep 19 2023 6:54AM

Sprint into Year-End, We Expect Tech Rally Gains Legs Despite Fed/10-Y...

Previewing META’s Conversations (this week) and Connect (next week)

META has two significant events taking place before the end of the month, starting with Conversations on September 20th (focused on business messaging) and then Connect on September 27th-28th (focused on AI and virtual, augmented, and mixed realities, aka the Metaverse). We think catalyst potential is relatively high (especially for Connect), and we share our thoughts on what investors should expect to hear at the events in this note.

AI Speaker Series Recap: Inuvo and AI in digital advertising

For the third edition of our AI speaker series (see our recap of Parts I and II HERE and replays HERE and HERE), we hosted Rich Howe (Chairman/CEO) and Barry Lowenthal (President) from Inuvo (INUV, not rated) and we discussed their IntentKey ad technology (which built on INUV’s proprietary large language model, aka LLM) and other advances in AI and machine learning across digital advertising.

New TW-BERT search model from GOOGL, AMZN Accelerate and PINS Presents...

In our latest edition, we share our views on several recent headlines: 1. TW-BERT: Improvements on GOOGL’s BERT model for better search results 2. AMZN Accelerate brings new supply chain and gen AI capabilities to sellers 3. PINS highlights new ad products at Presents event 4. GOOGL introduces new AI solution, Creative Guidance in Google Ads, on YouTube 5. SNAP partners with GENI for immersive NFL live experience 6. META expands WhatsApp Channels to 150+ countries

How much are GOOGL, AMZN and META spending on AI Capex (v1.0)?

There is relatively little disclosure from our three mega-caps on the components of capex, but there is some. We anchor the analysis on these disclosures and quarterly management commentary, and just as importantly, leverage the analysis from our Global Tech team (which can be found HERE) and then make our best estimates at the remaining elements. This is version 1.0 of the analysis, and we expect to update/revise it going forward as we learn more.

Who can afford that many A.I. clusters? Part I

Nvidia datacenter sales have nearly tripled year-over-year, are expected to grow another 60% next year, and our analysis of the company’s upstream suggests there is room for more revisions. Knowing that GPUs are only one part of the A.I. cluster puzzle, this means over a hundred billion of dollars should go into A.I. clusters next year. Question is – Who can afford to roll out that much? Where will they find the money, and, of course, how sustainable is that level of spending? We publish our i...

Daily Views on Tech Headlines

Wedbush Morning Call - Sep 06 2023 6:58AM

Wedbush Equity Strategy - Market Commentary

PSA Global Semiconductors: Opportunities & Risks from the AI Chip Boom

This report looks at the potential for the AI chip market and at who the winners and losers might be.

AMZN + SHOP, WMT seller event, YouTube read through from DIS vs CHTR, ...

What's New: It was a busier than typical last week of the summer, and in our latest edition, we share our views on an extended mix of recent headlines: 1. SHOP + AMZN partner for Buy with Prime on Shopify stores 2. WMT hosts first third-party seller event 3. DIS and CHTR at programming impasse; once again, YouTube benefits 4. AMZN expands interactive ads on TNF + Fire TV 5. Insta testing 10-minute Reels, now allows Stories to be promoted as ads via API 6. DASH rolls out AI-enabled voice orderi...

Heading into Labor Day: Football, BBQ, Fantasy Draft, and New Tech Bul...

Wedbush Morning Call - Aug 31 2023 6:55AM

Stable IT Spending Environment Bodes Well for Tech Names; Bullish into...

2Q23 Digital Ads Recap: Returns to Scale

In our expanded 2Q23 Digital Ad Recap, we review performance across six sub-sectors and 41 companies (see below) and also make slight adjustments to our industry model. 1. Search: GOOGL, MSFT, IAC, YELP, ANGI, PERI 2. Social Media: META, SNAP, PINS, YouTube 3. Retail Media: AMZN, EBAY, CRTO 4. Streaming: NFLX, DIS, ROKU, WBD, NBCU, PARA 5. Agencies: OMC, IPG, WPP-LN, PUB-FR, STGW, Dentsu 6. Ad Tech, including: 1. Demand-side platforms (DSPs): TTD, CRTO, PERI, DSP, ADTH, CDLX 2. Sell-side platf...