APPN Aug 2024 40.000 put

ISM Services PMI beat, Eli Lilly CFO to join Alphabet: Catalysts

On today's episode of Catalysts, Yahoo Finance's Madison Mills breaks down key economic data and major tech news, from Alphabet's new CFO to AI regulation. May's ISM Services PMI beat expectations, coming in at 53.8 against the expected 51. Meanwhile, the ADP National Employment Report showed private payroll growth slowed in May. FS Investments Chief US Economist Lara Rhame explains that despite the mixed data, the current economy is strong and adds, "Against that backdrop, there's no urgency for the Fed to cut rates. I think they want to get it done. I think it may not happen until after the election, and today's data doesn't really change my view of that." Alphabet (GOOGL, GOOG) announced that the current executive vice president and CFO of Eli Lilly (LLY), Anat Ashkenazi, will become the tech giant's new CFO effective July 31. Mizuho Senior Analyst Jared Holz breaks down Ashkenazi's qualifications, explaining, "I think just being able to navigate what has become an enormous company in Lilly ... $800 billion of market cap, trumps every other peer by a pretty wide margin." Bank of America Securities Senior Internet Technology Analyst Justin Post adds that Ashkenazi is joining Alphabet during a "good cost trajectory," as the company beat earnings expectations last quarter and executed small layoffs. On the AI front, tech employees are advocating for heightened oversight and regulation. Former and current employees from AI giants like OpenAI, Alphabet's Google (GOOG, GOOGL), and Anthropic have released an open letter highlighting concerns about the lack of governance to ensure the safe development of AI technologies. Appian (APPN) CEO Matt Calkins supports the letter, calling it "an extremely responsible step." This comes as Qualcomm (QCOM) is set to roll out Arm-based (ARM) chips in AI PCs. This post was written by Melanie Riehl