The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Google, Facebook, Apple, LinkedIn and General Electric

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Oct 30, 2013, 09:30 ET

CHICAGO, Oct. 30, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include the Google Inc (Nasdaq:GOOG-Free Report), Facebook Inc (Nasdaq:FB-Free Report), Apple (Nasdaq:AAPL-Free Report), LinkedIn Corp (NYSE:LNKD-Free Report) and General Electric Company (NYSE:GE-Free Report).

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Here are highlights from Tuesday's Analyst Blog:

Google Doubleclick Partners with Facebook

Google Inc (Nasdaq:GOOG-Free Report) recently announced that its online ad-placing service Doubleclick and social-networking giant Facebook Inc (Nasdaq:FB-Free Report) have entered into a partnership. As per the terms of this partnership, the clients of Google's Doubleclick exchange will be able to purchase re-targeted inventory on Facebook Exchange, an auction service started by Facebook in 2012.

Prior to this partnership, Doubleclick clients wishing to deal with the Facebook exchange had to deal with Facebook separately. But now, the Doubleclick exchange also includes Facebook inventory, which increases flexibility and reach for Google's advertising clients.

In online auction services, advertisers buy a lot of space simultaneously. Auction services like DoubleClick are largely dependent on a huge amount of inventory to sell to customers. With the addition of Facebook Exchange, Doubleclick gets to significantly expand its inventory.

Google's decision to partner Facebook is something of a surprise since the two companies happen to be fierce competitors. The partnership, however, is likely to be beneficial to both. Facebook hopes to see prices increase, as Google's hoard of customers may be expected to bid up its inventory. This will help both revenues and profits Google, on the other hand, hopes to charge a certain amount as fees per customer that it sends to Facebook, helping it make money from a rival platform.

In the meantime, Google continues to innovate. With the recently launched update to Google's search application for devices running Apple's (Nasdaq:AAPL-Free Report) mobile operating system, people will be able to avail a unique facility by which they can set reminders on an android device at home and later receive them on an iPhone.

Google is a market leader in online advertising and it has been trying to explore various ways to diversify its revenues and fight competition. Google continues to acquire smaller companies with specialized technology to boost its different offerings. In Feb 2013, it acquired Channel Intelligence for $125 million to boost its e-commerce business.

Earlier this year, it acquired an infrastructure startup company, Talaria Technologies, to boost its cloud offerings. Google also acquired a mobile mapping and navigation company – Waze Inc. – for about $1.1 billion.

Google reported gross revenue of $14.89 billion in the third quarter of 2013, up 5.6% on a year over year basis. The company has expressed its intention to increase investment in its core products in the future.

Currently, Google has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).LinkedIn Corp (NYSE:LNKD-Free Report) with Zacks Rank #2 is also worth consideration, this season.

GE Wind Turbines for Italian Project

Wind turbines manufactured exclusively by General Electric Company (NYSE:GE-Free Report) were recently selected by Italian infrastructure-based construction company Toto Costruzioni S.p.A. for a wind farm project in the Puglia region of Italy. The farm will be operated by Ponte Albanito S.r.l., a special purpose vehicle company formed for this purpose and controlled by majority stakeholder Renexia S.p.A. – a Toto Holding subsidiary.

General Electric will supply eight 2.85-103 wind turbines for the project, which is expected to provide 22.8 MW of power to the grid. The alternative energy produced through this wind farm is estimated to be equivalent to the energy requirements of approximately 15,000 homes in the region.

The project marks the first instance when GE 2.85 wind turbines will be used in Italy. These wind turbines are renowned for their high efficiency levels and offer more energy at minimal sound. In addition to the state-of-the-art wind turbines, the project will also benefit from round-the-clock remote monitoring and diagnostics services through General Electric's global wind monitoring center in Salzbergen, Germany, which monitors wind turbines in Europe and Asia uninterrupted throughout the year.

The wind farm project is a concerted effort by Italy to meet the energy guidelines of the European Union, which requires the member nations to produce 20% renewable energy by the year 2020. In order to meet this guideline, Italy is likely to install 560 MW of new wind generation capacity per year through 2020.

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