Alphabet (GOOGL) Boosts Chromebook Features With ChromeOS 117
Reportedly, in a bid to bring advancements to Chromebooks, Alphabet’s GOOGL Google is rolling out ChromeOS 117.
Notably, ChromeOS includes Material You and other usability improvements.
The Material You redesign in Quick Settings features rounded rectangles for grid layout, smaller cards for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Nearby Share, Cast Screen, VPN and screen capture, with larger buttons and a separate notification panel.
Further, the device update features a volume slider, Live Caption button, brightness, Night Light, Power off, Restart, Sign out, Lock menu, battery and time remaining and a shortcut to the full Settings app.
This apart, Google has introduced a Dynamic Color theme based on users’ wallpaper, allowing them to choose from four accent colors that adapt to the system's light/dark theme and can be controlled from the Wallpaper & style app.
Additionally, the latest update boasts several other features like the ability to search for GIFs in the emoji picker, simultaneous audio streaming from Android apps and the web, time-lapse enabled video recording in the Camera app, and improved search results for OS version, battery, RAM, storage and CPU status.
We believe that Google is expected to gain solid traction among Chromebook users on the back of the latest move.
Alphabet Inc. Price and Consensus
Alphabet Inc. price-consensus-chart | Alphabet Inc. Quote
Growing Chromebook Updates
Apart from the latest move, Alphabet recently partnered with policymakers and data-privacy regulators to bring new features including data processor mode, data controls, and camera and mic toggles on Chromebook, enabling privacy-focused education services.
Further, Google unveiled the world's first cloud-based Chromebook laptops on the back of its partnership with Acer, ASUS and Lenovo, offering gaming hardware, cloud-based access to games, and advanced gaming software.
All the abovementioned endeavors are in sync with Alphabet’s growing efforts to strengthen its Google Services segment.
In second-quarter 2023, Google Services’ revenues increased 5.5% year over year to $66.3 billion, accounting for 88.8% of total revenues.
Our model projects Google Services revenues for 2023 at $267.05 billion, indicating growth of 5.3% from 2022.
We believe growing momentum in the underlined segment will likely aid its overall financial performance. This, in turn, will likely instill investor optimism in the stock.
Our model estimate for 2023 total revenues stands at $300.45 billion, indicating year-over-year growth of 6.2%.
Alphabet has gained 48% on a year-to-date basis compared with the industry’s growth of 46.1%.
Stiff Competition
Alphabet's Chromebook update is expected to strengthen its competitive edge against rivals like Apple AAPL and Microsoft MSFT, which are also making strong efforts to enhance their offerings.
Apple recently unveiled the 15-inch MacBook Air, Mac Studio and Mac Pro, powered by Apple silicon. These laptops feature a Liquid Retina display, M2 Ma -x and Ultra performance, and PCIe expansion, offering significant upgrades for Intel-based users and PC users.
Further, Apple's macOS Sonoma update, which has introduced improvements over its predecessor, Venture, is now available for compatible Macs.
Meanwhile, Microsoft recently launched Surface Laptop Studio 2, the first Microsoft laptop with a dedicated VPU AI accelerator, offering Windows 11 Copilot functionality, expanded port selection and high battery life.
Additionally, Microsoft unveiled the Surface Laptop Go 3, a 2-in-1 portable laptop featuring a 12th-Gen Alder Lake mobile architecture for efficient multi-tasking, running on the Intel Core i5-1235U with 10 cores and 12 threads configuration.
Zacks Rank & Another Stock to Consider
Currently, Alphabet carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
A better-ranked stock in the broader technology sector is Applied Materials AMAT, which carries a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Shares of Applied Materials have gained 38.6% in the year-to-date period. AMAT’s long-term earnings growth rate is currently projected at 6.10%.
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