Google redeems itself with an impressive A.I. showcase as it scrambles to catch up to Microsoft

Published Thu, May 11 20232:12 PM EDT

Wall Street rewarded Alphabet (GOOGL) for a second day following Wednesday's announcements of Google's latest innovations in artificial intelligence. While the enhancements eased some investors' concerns over Google's A.I. growth capabilities, we think it's still too early to say whether the company has done enough to make up for Microsoft 's (MSFT) head start in the field. Shares of Alphabet on Thursday rallied more than 5%, adding to Wednesday's 4% advance on the back of upbeat demonstrations at Google's annual developers' conference that showcased A.I. integrations into its ecosystem of core products. Alphabet stock has gained 33% year-to-date — back to levels seen last summer and approaching its 52-week high of $122.43 set back on Aug. 16, 2022. Alphabet unveiled new devices, technologies and partnerships that enable the practical everyday use cases of generative A.I., the latest trend in the tech industry. Here are some of the key announcements from the conference and a short video from Google summarizing the event. New AI writing tools for productivity: Google showcased an A.I. integration into Gmail through a feature called "Help Me Write." This feature can compose a full email draft after users type in a short prompt for context. Management also shared how they're incorporating A.I. in Google Workspace, including Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides. Immersive View for Google Maps: This enhanced new feature offers users the experience of visualizing their routes to desired destinations before departing. Immersive View uses computer vision and A.I. for optimal Street View so users can get the most data as they preview directions. New features to Bard chatbot: Bard is widely available in more than 180 countries and in multiple languages. The chatbot is now operating on a new large language model called PaLM 2 , which delivers better responses to user inquiries. Generative A.I. comes to Search: Users will be able to simplify search results from complex inquiries. Google's announcements increased confidence on Wall Street that the tech giant is a leader in the A.I. race along with fellow Club stock Microsoft. "We come away believing the company is improving the user experience and A.I. is simplifying user tasks across its product portfolio," analysts at JMP Securities said in a research note Wednesday. The firm, which continues to view Alphabet as the leader in A.I., maintained its market perform (neutral) rating and its $132-per-share price target on GOOGL stock. Google demonstrated in Wednesday's presentation that it's making "real progress in re-imagining Search and other products with Generative A.I. and in turn begin to take back some of the GAI (generative A.I.) narrative that MSFT has captured over the past few months," research analysts over at JPMorgan said on Thursday. Following the conference, JPMorgan analysts said they "are more confident the company is accelerating product innovation" and that Alphabet is "well positioned to capture the critical inflection in GAI." They have an overweight (buy) rating and a price target of $121 per share on the stock. Alphabet has been investing in A.I. for many years but doubled down earlier this year after ChatGPT from Microsoft-backed OpenAI went viral, just months following its late-November launch. On Feb. 6 , one day before Microsoft's event, Google rushed the release of its A.I. chatbot Bard. The event flopped. On Feb. 7 , Microsoft announced its new A.I.-powered Bing, which is backed by OpenAI's latest large language model, now Chat GPT-4. It was well received. These back-to-back, dueling events led to a market perception that Alphabet had fallen behind in the A.I. race and would cede market share in the lucrative search industry, in which it has enjoyed a near monopoly in for decades. It won't be easy for Microsoft to change consumer behavior and persuade users to use Bing instead of Google, but even a few lost percentage points of market share could make a difference. Wednesday's showcase, however, revealed Alphabet to still be in the game and helped it regain the narrative as being one of the leading forces in A.I. Bottom line We were encouraged by all the A.I. developments at Google's conference, particularly how it will enhance productivity for enterprises and individuals. At the same time, there's continued debate regarding which players have the best A.I. products. Both Club holdings Alphabet and Microsoft have been the clear headliners that are leading in the nascent space. Interest in A.I. is creating new business tailwinds during a time when many are fearing a broader slowdown. In Google's demonstrations, it's clear that new A.I. integrations into its applications show A.I. will soon become a normal part of the user experience. Similarly, companies that want to integrate A.I. into their own operations are turning to Alphabet to create efficiencies for customers. While Google was late to the A.I. game, the Google event demonstrated that the market should take it seriously as an A.I.-first company. However, only time will tell if what Google offered was enough to have an edge over Microsoft. (Jim Cramer's Charitable Trust is long GOOGL, MSFT. See here for a full list of the stocks.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust's portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . 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Google headquarters in Mountain View, California, on Jan. 30, 2023.

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