Google Investors Cheer On Restructuring Prospects

Google parent Alphabet is the best performer in the S&P 500 on Wednesday, putting the stock on track to close at a fresh 52-week high.

Class A shares of Alphabet are up more than 3% and set to close at their highest level since April 2022, when they finished at $142.97.

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Shares Alphabet jumped over 3% Wednesday morning following a report that Google is planning a major reorganization of its ad sales team.
The same goes for Meta. By the end of the 3Q, Meta’s total employee headcount was 23% below where it ended last year#google #alphabet #meta pic.twitter.com/coSG2z8PCv

— The_Journalbiz (@the_journalbiz) December 20, 2023

Chart on Meta and Alphabet reconstruction staff

Shares of parent company Alphabet jumped more than 3% Wednesday morning following a report in The Information that Google is planning a major reorganization of its 30,000-person ad sales team.

According to the report, the changes are part of the company’s increasing use of artificial intelligence tools such as machine learning, which can automate much of the ad-buying process for customers.

Meta has leaned in much harder to Big Tech’s cost-reduction wave, following the “year of efficiency” mantra that founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced early this year. By the end of the third quarter, Meta’s total employee headcount was 23% below where it ended last year, compared with a 4% reduction for Alphabet over the same period.

That helped take about $1.6 billion out of Meta’s sales and marketing costs so far this year compared to the same period last year.

Facebook’s parent has seen its stock price nearly tripled since the start of the year compared to a 60% gain for Alphabet.

@thejournalbiz

Source:WSJ/Factset

Image: Big Tech