By Sarah Roden
Youssef Squali of Cantor Fitzgerald provided commentary on updates announced by popular Internet companies such as Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL), Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN), and Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) on May 29. Squali notes that the Cantor Internet Index, or CII, outperformed the overall market last week. The CII increased 0.4% compared to the S&P 500’s -0.1% decrease.
At Google’s I/O Developer conference, Squali confirmed Google’s imminent launch of a ‘Buy button.’ Squali explained that the button will enable users “to purchase products featured in paid product listing ads.” The analyst believes the button will bolster conversion rates for Google’s product listing advertisements, as well as compete with Amazon and eBay.
Furthermore, Google made headlines at their I/O Developer conference by announcing free unlimited photo and video storage in Google Photos, which is already available for users. Squali views the development as “an incremental positive for Google’s engagement on owned and operated properties, but an incremental negative to margins given additional capex requirements (without any clear top line benefit).”
Youssef Squali currently has a Buy rating on Google with a $625 price target. He has rated GOOGL 32 times since March 2009, earning a 66% success rate recommending the stock with a +23.8% average return per rating. The top analyst consensus for Google on TipRanks is Moderate Buy.
Youssef Squali went on to highlight new perks for Amazon Prime members. The e-commerce website announced, “Prime members across a number of markets will now be eligible for free same-day delivery on over 1 million items for orders exceeding $35.” This move improves the value of a Prime membership and competes with Google’s new shopping service. Moreover, Squali pointed out that Amazon will begin recording sales locally across Europe, as opposed to “its previous practice of accruing all European sales to its lowtax Luxembourg-based location.” Sales made in the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, and Spain will all be recorded separately. Squali does not expect this change to have a near-term “meaningful impact” on Amazon’s taxes “given the relatively low operating margins in AMZN’s international retail segment.”
Youssef Squali currently has a Buy rating on Amazon with a $460 price target. Squali has rated Amazon 16 times since October 2009, earning a 81% success rate recommending the stock with a +27.4% average return per rating. The top analyst consensus for Amazon on TipRanks is Moderate Buy.
Additionally, Squali noted that Facebook is partnering with professional restaurant critics to integrate restaurant reviews onto its platform. Reviews from New York Magazine, Conde Nast Traveler, Bon Appetit, and others will appear in Facebook’s search results. Squali explained, “If users want to go beyond summaries, users can click on a link to access the full review.” This feature is currently being tested and Squali views it as a positive innovation for Facebook, “as enhanced search functionality and local business information should be incrementally positive for engagement on the platform.”
Youssef Squali currently has a Buy rating on Facebook with a $92 price target. He has rated the stock 24 times since September 2012, earning a 91% success rate recommending the stock with a +54.8% average return per FB rating. The top analyst consensus for Facebook on TipRanks is Strong Buy.
Youssef Squali has a 72% overall success rate recommending stocks with a +24.4% average return per rating. To see more ratings made by Youssef Squali, visit TipRanks today.