Latest news with #PaulMeeks
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Perplexity's Google Chrome offer may be a PR stunt aimed at Apple
Perplexity ( is offering $34.5 billion to buy Alphabet's (GOOG, GOOGL) Google Chrome business. Alphabet could be forced to sell Google Chrome as part of an antitrust resolution, but Wall Street seems to be dismissing Perplexity as a serious potential Chrome buyer, given that the reported offer is greater than the artificial intelligence (AI) startup's $18 billion valuation. Chamber of Progress CEO and founder, Adam Kovacevich, and Freedom Capital Markets managing director, Paul Meeks, join Market Catalysts to discuss. Kovacevich says Perplexity is "selling headlines, not buying browsers," while Meeks adds that this may be part of the company's rumored strategy to sell itself to Apple (AAPL). To watch more expert insights and analysis on the latest market action, check out more Market Catalysts. perplexity is making a bid to acquire Google's Chrome browser for thirty four and a half billion dollars that's at least according to reports out there. The AI startup only worth about 18 billion dollars according to its latest funding rounds. So some of the funds would have to come from outside investors, it was an unsolicited offer, and it comes ahead of US antitrust proceedings that could force alphabet to sell the well web browser. It seems like most of the street is not seeing this as terribly realistic, but I want to talk about sort of how this fits into the broader AI landscape. Adam Kovac which is with us now as well chamber progress, CEO and founder Paul Meeks of Freedom Capital markets is still with me as well, and Adam as we look at the AI landscape here. Perplexity is not as much of a household name within AI is this just a marketing move on its part? Yeah, I think their hottest product is publicity. I think these offers keep Wall Street buzzing without them having to spend a dime. You know, one week, uh, we hear that the big tech wants to buy perplexity, the next week they're kind of swaggering in as a potential buyer back in March. They said they, you know, they were, we're putting in a bid to uh, to buy tick tock. Tick Tock wasn't for sale. Uh, I think the press clip is the point, right? As you noted, um, the the value of Chrome is double or more than perplexity's own value, and the check would be bigger than the balance sheet. I think you're selling headlines, not buying browsers, but look, I mean I think founders know that swagger can kind of goose valuations, uh, getting their name uttered in the same breath as Chrome kind of signals Big League, right? It sets a higher price uh, for if someone tries to scoop you up, and let's face it, it kind of worked. We're here talking about perplexity, aren't we? Right? So unfortunately for them, it's not about how valuable their core product is. Well, but Paul, you know, when you look at the Chrome situation, the Alphabet situation, um, do you think that they are going to be forced to spin off Chrome? I mean we've talked to some analysts who say even if they do, it's not necessarily a bad thing for Alphabet. I agree that it won't necessarily be a bad thing, but I think when you get to the end of the day, I don't think that the Feds are going to force uh, the divestiture. So this uh, deal or proposed deal by perplexity AI so premature, the other thing that's going on with perplexity AI, though I do think perplexity AI is a real deal company is it's rumored that they may sell themselves to Apple. And so you want to crank up the PR machine to drive up your valuation so Apple takes you out at bigger price. So I think that might also be at play here. Related Videos Bullish soars in public debut, Amazon delivery, downgraded Data Not Supporting a Big Fed Rate Cut, BofA's Cabana Says CoreWeave earnings don't answer the big question bears are asking Starbucks turnaround check-in: 1 yr. since CEO shake-up Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
CoreWeave earnings don't answer the big question bears are asking
CoreWeave (CRWV) stock is down double digits following the company's second quarter earnings miss. Freedom Capital Markets managing director Paul Meeks examines what's fueling the huge decline, despite CoreWeave's revenue beating. The strategist explains that the earnings print failed to answer the question that bears are asking, setting CoreWeave up to be what he calls a potential "profitless prosperity" company, as seen during the dot-com bubble. To watch more expert insights and analysis on the latest market action, check out more Market Catalysts. CoreWeave shares are sinking as widening losses in its second quarter overshadow AI demand growth. The data center company reporting a net loss of about $290 million, operating expenses ballooning to $1.2 billion, and only $318 million the year prior. Joining me now on this, Paul Meeks, managing director of Freedom Capital Markets. Good to see you, Paul. So, um as we see what's going on with CoreWeave here, there has been all through this earnings season the weighing of sort of the spend versus the demand. Why is CoreWeave getting punished like this when others who are spending a lot are not? So, first of all, let me break some news for you. I understand Julie that you are being considered for a Fetcher. I'm on the long, I'm on the long, long list, Paul. You're probably on there too. So, as it pertains to CoreWeave, now remember CoreWeave started this month at a low of $102 per share. Before the print, it had closed at $149 per share. So maybe some comeuppins was in store. But even though the company has voracious demand, and their revenues reported were better than expected, and their guidance better than expected. The problem is, they did not answer the question that the bears have been asking for some time, is this company ever going to make any dough? Now, I was around during the deflation of the internet bubble, and we used to call some of these companies profitless prosperity. And that means you have great revenue, but you never bring it through to cash flow and earnings. I think CoreWeave is going to be just fine in the end, but the problem is I don't think you will see evidence that this is not a profitless prosperity company until they break even, and it won't be this year. It's probably sometime late next year. Well, and remember the IPO was earlier this year at 40 bucks, it's trading at multiples of that. Um and so the the bump that we're seeing today, does it sort of drift lower from here? Or do you, do you see people piling back in on the hopes that it will eventually turn that profit? I think it'll turn around, but uh, this is what I think happens. I think it could easily retest that 102, 103, 104 low base, and we weren't there that long ago. That was just the last couple of trading days of last month, the first couple of trading days of this month. So I own the stock as a privately held company, so I'm in at an outrageously low cost basis. But even for a new client that wanted to be in this stock, I'd wait to see if we get to around that $100 handle before I start to buy back the shares. Gotcha, lucky you, by the way. And, and is there anything that is um doing a similar thing to CoreWeave, but doing it better than investors might want to look at? I still think CoreWeave is the number one in the space. Uh, Nevius, which is essentially its counterpart in Europe could be interesting, but I still would probably go with the hyperscalers that have free cash flow and profits. And even some of these semiconductor companies, ala AMD and Nvidia, even though they have vaulted upward with their stock prices, probably over CoreWeave. But my favorite pick in all of tech continues to be Apple.
Yahoo
20-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
How AI is breathing new life into old tech giants
There are a lot of names investors think of when it comes to artificial intelligence, such as Nvidia (NVDA), Meta (META), and OpenAI ( But some classic Big Tech names like Oracle (ORCL) and IBM (IBM) are hot in the AI game too. 17 Asset Management chief investment officer & Water Tower Research managing director Paul Meeks discusses the longtime tech giants that are now seeing big benefits from AI. To watch more expert insights and analysis on the latest market action, check out more Market Catalysts here. There's another trend that I wanted to talk to you about, Paul, that I found interesting in the market recently. And that's, you know, you and I've been following these tech stocks for a long time, right? And there's some like Oracle, which we've been speaking about recently and watching that have sort of found new life because of this AI wave. How much further can it take them? Yeah, there are a couple of blasts from the past, I would say Oracle and AI, but I don't think Oracle and AI with its any kind of tilt towards a large language model or even its apps is the big deal. It's OCI, right? Their cloud computing infrastructure. That's very much like Microsoft Azure and Amazon AWS. If it was just an AI hopeful software company, I wouldn't have the same view of Oracle. The other thing I think will be interesting is not today, not tomorrow, but sooner or later, quantum computing will explode, and then you'll see another blast from the past because here comes IBM. IBM after all these years of being poo-pooed could be a leader in quantum computing. Well, and IBM has already trading near a record, so it's already been seeing a lift from some of the transformations that company has been undergoing. Are there other sort of like old workhorses that you think people should be holding in their portfolios because they're part of this new wave? Yeah, another one that people had given up for dead was Cisco, right? For a long time, Cisco's growth had slowed, and the only reason that you would buy Cisco was it had a really high dividend yield for a tech stock. So you could get kind of a two-fer and have a call option on some price appreciation. However, Cisco, in this AI infrastructure world, has some mojo. And I also think Cisco might be part of the consortium that is permitted in the United States to buy Tik Tok, so that could be interesting. So, yeah, another one. Let's get to the biggie here, and that is, of course, Nvidia. We had the recent news that they were going to be selling more, or that they were expecting to get the licenses again to sell H20s into China. What do you think is the biggest obstacle or risk for Nvidia at this point? Well, we know, whether it's the Chinese or the dude that we have in the White House, that, you know, a policy could easily be changed from morning to afternoon. So I still worry about that. But in the meantime, I think things are going great there. And this quarter, Nvidia was supposed to do revenues of about $45 billion. And that was excluding $8 billion in H20 revenue. So now that we're back on, it won't go from zero back to eight. But think about it. This could add, and it should add to all the Wall Street models, 20% upside to revenues over the next year or so. So if this deal sticks, I'm always worried about these deals sticking. But obviously a boon for Nvidia, and I agree. Post this announcement, the sell side is at about a $200 price target for Nvidia. I think it's achievable. Related Videos Meta Hires Two Key AI Researchers From Apple Musk's xAI in Talks With Saudi Firm on Data Center Deal ASML Orders Beat Expectations Amid AI Investment Boom How one cybersecurity startup is using AI to keep clients safe Sign in to access your portfolio
Business Upturn
04-06-2025
- Business
- Business Upturn
Water Tower Research (WTR) Adds Paul Meeks as Managing Director
St. Petersburg, FL, June 04, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Water Tower Research LLC ( is modernizing IR with a powerfully differentiated ecosystem of investor relations services, research-driven content and communications, and investor engagement. Water Tower Research is pleased to announce that Paul Meeks has joined the firm as Managing Director. Shawn Severson, WTR CEO and Co-Founder, said, 'We are pleased to welcome Paul to Water Tower Research as the newest member of our expanding Technology Team. Paul brings deep expertise in investment management and a distinguished track record of insight into the technology sector. His perspective will further strengthen our already outstanding team, joining Dr. John Roy and Kunal Madhukar in delivering industry-leading research and thought leadership. As we continue to grow our coverage across dynamic and innovative technology companies, Paul's contributions will be instrumental in broadening our reach and delivering even greater value to investors. At Water Tower Research, our mission is to democratize access to high-quality equity research—helping all investors uncover new opportunities and understand the key trends, companies, and catalysts shaping the future of tech.' Paul Meeks is a Managing Director on the Technology team at Water Tower Research. He brings more than 30 years of buy-side experience to WTR as an institutional investment analyst, portfolio manager, research director, and chief investment officer. Paul is widely recognized for having launched and managed $8 billion in technology funds for Merrill Lynch Investment Managers, among the largest technology-focused funds during the dot-com era. The fund was acquired by BlackRock in 2006. He has also held management positions with Jurika and Voyles, NMH Advisors, and Saturna Capital. Paul started his career at Trinity Investment Management in Boston. He currently holds management positions with Harvest Portfolio Management and 17 Asset Management. Paul is also a well-respected commentator and recognized technology expert. He has appeared weekly on air in the business media to 'talk tech' since 1995 and is recognized as CNBC's 'Tech Guru'. Paul also hosts 'Tech Tune-Up with Paul Meeks' each week on Benzinga's YouTube channel. Over the last 20 years, Paul has also served as an adjunct or full-time professor of finance and accounting at three universities, most recently at The Citadel's Baker School of Business where he raised $2 million for and was faculty advisor to the Student Managed Investment Fund. Paul earned bachelor's degrees in history and political science from Williams College and holds an MM (MBA) from the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University. He is a CFA charterholder and a Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA). About Water Tower Research Water Tower Research is modernizing Investor Relations through research-driven communications and Investor Engagement. Sound investment research begins with good information. At WTR, we help companies and investors connect by creating expert information flow and strategies that are the foundation of a successful modern investor relations platform. Our analysts and capital markets professionals bring decades of unrivaled Wall Street experience and insight to a new digital world of investor communications and engagement. Our research and investor content is distributed across traditional research aggregators like Bloomberg, FactSet, etc., proprietary direct distribution lists, social media, search engines, and our website. As a result, every institutional and retail investor has equal access to our high-quality company research. Our mission is to help companies take control of their IR program and proactively reach investors while bringing investors a consistent flow of quality information to help them understand our clients' businesses, industries, and the investment opportunities they present. Disclaimer: The above press release comes to you under an arrangement with GlobeNewswire. Business Upturn takes no editorial responsibility for the same.
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Water Tower Research (WTR) Adds Paul Meeks as Managing Director
Water Tower Research LLC ( is modernizing IR with a powerfully differentiated ecosystem of investor relations services, research-driven content and communications, and investor engagement. Water Tower Research is pleased to announce that Paul Meeks has joined the firm as Managing Director. St. Petersburg, FL, June 04, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Water Tower Research LLC ( is modernizing IR with a powerfully differentiated ecosystem of investor relations services, research-driven content and communications, and investor engagement. Water Tower Research is pleased to announce that Paul Meeks has joined the firm as Managing Director. Shawn Severson, WTR CEO and Co-Founder, said, 'We are pleased to welcome Paul to Water Tower Research as the newest member of our expanding Technology Team. Paul brings deep expertise in investment management and a distinguished track record of insight into the technology sector. His perspective will further strengthen our already outstanding team, joining Dr. John Roy and Kunal Madhukar in delivering industry-leading research and thought leadership. As we continue to grow our coverage across dynamic and innovative technology companies, Paul's contributions will be instrumental in broadening our reach and delivering even greater value to investors. At Water Tower Research, our mission is to democratize access to high-quality equity research—helping all investors uncover new opportunities and understand the key trends, companies, and catalysts shaping the future of tech.' Paul Meeks is a Managing Director on the Technology team at Water Tower Research. He brings more than 30 years of buy-side experience to WTR as an institutional investment analyst, portfolio manager, research director, and chief investment officer. Paul is widely recognized for having launched and managed $8 billion in technology funds for Merrill Lynch Investment Managers, among the largest technology-focused funds during the dot-com era. The fund was acquired by BlackRock in 2006. He has also held management positions with Jurika and Voyles, NMH Advisors, and Saturna Capital. Paul started his career at Trinity Investment Management in Boston. He currently holds management positions with Harvest Portfolio Management and 17 Asset Management. Paul is also a well-respected commentator and recognized technology expert. He has appeared weekly on air in the business media to 'talk tech' since 1995 and is recognized as CNBC's 'Tech Guru'. Paul also hosts 'Tech Tune-Up with Paul Meeks' each week on Benzinga's YouTube channel. Over the last 20 years, Paul has also served as an adjunct or full-time professor of finance and accounting at three universities, most recently at The Citadel's Baker School of Business where he raised $2 million for and was faculty advisor to the Student Managed Investment Fund. Paul earned bachelor's degrees in history and political science from Williams College and holds an MM (MBA) from the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University. He is a CFA charterholder and a Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA). About Water Tower Research Water Tower Research is modernizing Investor Relations through research-driven communications and Investor Engagement. Sound investment research begins with good information. At WTR, we help companies and investors connect by creating expert information flow and strategies that are the foundation of a successful modern investor relations platform. Our analysts and capital markets professionals bring decades of unrivaled Wall Street experience and insight to a new digital world of investor communications and engagement. Our research and investor content is distributed across traditional research aggregators like Bloomberg, FactSet, etc., proprietary direct distribution lists, social media, search engines, and our website. As a result, every institutional and retail investor has equal access to our high-quality company research. Our mission is to help companies take control of their IR program and proactively reach investors while bringing investors a consistent flow of quality information to help them understand our clients' businesses, industries, and the investment opportunities they present. CONTACT: Name: Water Tower Research LLC Email: research@ Job Title: WTR Investor EngagementError in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
