New polls of Benzinga readers show they don't think the Department of Justice should break up Alphabet Inc GOOG GOOGL or target other Magnificent 7 stocks.
What Happened: A recent investigation by the Department of Justice found prosecutors telling Alphabet it needs to divest the Google Chrome browser to break a monopoly on online search.
A poll of Benzinga readers showed 64% of respondents saying that Alphabet should not be split up. While the Department of Justice's probe into Alphabet likely means some changes will be made in the future, attention could quickly turn to other big technology companies after the Google parent.
"Which other Magnificent 7 stock should be broken up?" Benzinga asked.
The results were:
- None of them: 51%
- Amazon.com Inc AMZN: 14%
- Meta Platforms META: 12%
- Microsoft Corporation MSFT: 11%
- Apple Inc AAPL: 5%
- Tesla Inc TSLA: 5%
- NVIDIA Corporation NVDA: 2%
Around half of the poll respondents said no other Magnificent 7 stocks should be broken up. Of the people who picked a stock to be broken up, Amazon led the way with 14% of the vote.
Why It's Important: The desire to split up Amazon likely comes from investors wanting to have access to invest in Amazon Web Services, also known as AWS, a pure-play cloud platform.
In the most recent third-quarter financial results, Amazon reported the following revenue by business segment:
- North America: $95.5 billion, +9% year-over-year
- International: $35.9 billion, +12% year-over-year
- AWS: $27.5 billion, +19% year-over-year
This trend is a common occurrence of AWS growth outpacing the other business segments. While AWS is the smallest of the three main reporting segments, the cloud segment is seeing strong growth and getting closer to outpacing international revenue.
AWS is also the larger driver for Amazon's operating profit. Of the company's third-quarter total of $17.4 billion in operating profit, $10.4 billion came from AWS.
Meta Platforms came in second of the companies in the poll, which could be related to investors wanting access to the companies social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram or access to the WhatsApp messaging service.
Meta could find itself a target of the new White House administration with both Donald Trump and J.D. Vance speaking out about the company previously.
“I think that Google and Facebook have really distorted our political process. And I think a lot of my friends on the left would agree with me, but they might disagree with me directionally about how to fix that problem," Vance said earlier this year. “We have to stop the craziness, and I think one way to do it is to stop the way that these companies control the flow of information in our country.”
While many investors said Magnificent 7 stocks shouldn't be broken up, analysts see the move potentially unlocking value based on sum-of-the-parts valuations.
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The study was conducted by Benzinga from Nov. 21 through Nov. 22, 2024, and included the responses of a diverse population of adults 18 or older. Opting into the survey was completely voluntary, with no incentives offered to potential respondents. The study reflects results from 57 adults.
Photo: Shutterstock
© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
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