ETF Traders Subtly Prepare for Market Volatility, According to Direxion
Written by Emily J. Thompson, Senior Investment Analyst
Updated: Sep 04 2025
0mins
Should l Buy GOOG?
Source: Benzinga
Market Sentiment Shift: Despite American equities reaching new highs, leveraged ETF flows indicate a more tactical market approach, with investors moving from bullish positions to hedging and profit-taking strategies.
Small-Cap Stocks and Fed Influence: The future of small-cap stock performance is uncertain, particularly with an anticipated Federal Reserve meeting that may impact market sentiment and trading strategies.
Hedging Strategies with ETFs: Investors are increasingly using inverse ETFs as hedges to protect gains without triggering capital gains taxes, emphasizing the need for active monitoring and rebalancing.
Cautious Trading Environment: August's ETF flows show a trend of profit-taking in bull funds and selective bullish demand in certain stocks, highlighting the importance of timing and discipline in leveraged ETF trading.
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Analyst Views on GOOG
Wall Street analysts forecast GOOG stock price to rise over the next 12 months. According to Wall Street analysts, the average 1-year price target for GOOG is 336.08 USD with a low forecast of 255.00 USD and a high forecast of 400.00 USD. However, analyst price targets are subjective and often lag stock prices, so investors should focus on the objective reasons behind analyst rating changes, which better reflect the company's fundamentals.
15 Analyst Rating
14 Buy
1 Hold
0 Sell
Strong Buy
Current: 331.330
Low
255.00
Averages
336.08
High
400.00
Current: 331.330
Low
255.00
Averages
336.08
High
400.00
About GOOG
Alphabet Inc. is a holding company. The Company's segments include Google Services, Google Cloud, and Other Bets. The Google Services segment includes products and services such as ads, Android, Chrome, devices, Google Maps, Google Play, Search, and YouTube. The Google Cloud segment includes infrastructure and platform services, collaboration tools, and other services for enterprise customers. Its Other Bets segment is engaged in the sale of healthcare-related services and Internet services. Its Google Cloud provides enterprise-ready cloud services, including Google Cloud Platform and Google Workspace. Google Cloud Platform provides access to solutions such as artificial intelligence (AI) offerings, including its AI infrastructure, Vertex AI platform, and Gemini for Google Cloud; cybersecurity, and data and analytics. Google Workspace includes cloud-based communication and collaboration tools for enterprises, such as Calendar, Gmail, Docs, Drive, and Meet.
About the author
Emily J. Thompson
Emily J. Thompson, a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) with 12 years in investment research, graduated with honors from the Wharton School. Specializing in industrial and technology stocks, she provides in-depth analysis for Intellectia’s earnings and market brief reports.
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- Cloud Business Surge: Google Cloud's sales surged 48% year-over-year to $17.7 billion, representing 15.5% of Alphabet's total revenue, while operating income soared 154% to $5.3 billion, indicating robust growth potential in the AI sector.
- Market Reaction Analysis: Although Alphabet lost approximately $250 billion in market value over three days due to concerns over massive AI infrastructure spending, it remains the top performer among the
See More
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- Accelerated Revenue Growth: Google Cloud's revenue growth surged to 48% in Q4, reaching $17.7 billion, with operating income skyrocketing from $2.1 billion last year to $5.3 billion, reflecting strong performance and demand in the AI sector.
- Significant Capex Increase: Alphabet plans to raise its capital expenditure budget to between $175 billion and $185 billion for 2026, significantly up from $91 billion in 2025, indicating strong confidence in future technology investments, particularly in AI and cloud computing.
- Search and Ad Revenue Growth: Google Search revenue grew 17% in Q4 to $63.1 billion, demonstrating that AI has driven an increase in search queries without negatively impacting traditional search, further solidifying its market leadership.
- Waymo Expansion and Funding: Alphabet's Waymo robotaxi service opened its sixth market in Miami and successfully raised $16 billion for its subsidiary, achieving a valuation of $126 billion, showcasing the company's ongoing expansion and investment potential in the autonomous driving sector.
See More
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- Significant Revenue Growth: Google Cloud's revenue surged 48% year-over-year in Q4 2025, reaching $17.7 billion and accounting for 15.5% of Alphabet's total sales, demonstrating the segment's robust performance amid the AI boom and solidifying the company's position in the cloud computing market.
- Profitability Improvement: The operating income for Google Cloud skyrocketed by 154% to $5.3 billion, with the operating margin nearly doubling from 17.5% to 29.9%, indicating substantial progress in cost control and efficiency enhancement, which strengthens future profitability potential.
- Market Reaction Volatility: Despite exceeding Wall Street expectations, Alphabet's stock fell 6.5% post-report, resulting in a market cap loss of approximately $250 billion over three days, reflecting investor concerns over the company's massive AI infrastructure spending, which may impact short-term investor confidence.
- Long-Term Growth Potential: Alphabet plans to double its capital expenditure budget in 2026, signaling confidence in Google Cloud's future growth, suggesting that analysts should reassess its growth prospects to reflect the segment's potential and changing market demand.
See More
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- Revenue Surprises: Alphabet reported Q4 2025 revenue of $17.7 billion, a 48% year-over-year increase that surpassed Wall Street estimates by 2.4%, showcasing its strong performance in the AI sector, although the stock price fell due to infrastructure spending plans.
- Significant Profitability Boost: The operating income for the quarter soared 154% to $5.3 billion, indicating rapid profitability growth in the Google Cloud segment, which further solidifies Alphabet's competitive position in the cloud computing market.
- Market Value Fluctuations: Despite a 6.5% drop in Alphabet's stock price post-earnings, resulting in a $250 billion market value loss over three days, it remains the best performer among the
See More
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- Stock Price Pressure: Microsoft has had a rough start to 2026, with its stock down 11% year-to-date, including a 10% drop in a single day following its second-quarter earnings report, complicating its ability to outperform the market this year.
- Cloud Growth Potential: Azure, Microsoft's cloud computing division, achieved a remarkable 39% revenue growth in Q2 2025, while the overall growth rate was 17%, underscoring the central role of cloud computing in the company's strategy.
- Competitive Advantage Analysis: Although Microsoft does not separately disclose Azure's profits, its operating margins are estimated to be between 25% and 35%, which may be lower than Microsoft's overall operating margin of 47%, compared to competitors AWS and Google Cloud.
- Future Outlook: With the ongoing demand for cloud computing, Microsoft is positioned to achieve stronger market performance in the coming years through its Azure platform, despite current stock price pressures, as the potential of cloud computing remains a key to its strategic success.
See More
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- Azure Growth Momentum: Microsoft's Azure cloud computing division achieved a remarkable 39% revenue growth in Q2 2025, highlighting its critical role in the company's overall 17% growth, indicating that cloud computing will continue to drive Microsoft's future development.
- Market Competition Analysis: Although Microsoft does not disclose Azure's financials separately, its operating margins are likely between 25% and 35%, compared to competitors Amazon AWS and Google Cloud's margins of 35% and 24%, respectively, which may exert some pressure on overall profitability.
- Investment Opportunity: Microsoft's expansion in the cloud computing sector presents a significant market opportunity, especially as demand for AI surges, leading enterprise clients to prefer renting data centers rather than building them, thus fueling Azure's rapid growth.
- Stock Market Performance Challenges: Despite Microsoft's stock price dropping 11% at the start of 2026, Azure's strong growth could help it outperform the market in the future, particularly as the broader market has only risen by 1%, providing Microsoft with a chance to regain its market position.
See More
