EduInvesting | 15 May 2025
Welcome to the holy trinity of tech tension: Meta, Google, and Reddit — three companies that somehow represent the extremes of Big Tech, public outrage, and internet memes, all while pretending they care about user privacy.
In May 2025, these three names are dominating headlines for very different reasons:
- Meta is busy harvesting your data to feed its AI.
- Google might get forcefully broken up by regulators or Apple.
- Reddit IPO-ed, memed its way onto Wall Street, and is now hoping it can stay relevant.
Let’s do what investors should but rarely do: actually look beyond the headlines — with sarcasm, stats, and some SEO seasoning.
🧠 META: From Facebook to Faceborg
Mark Zuckerberg’s empire has gone full techno-dystopia in 2025. He’s not just building the Metaverse anymore — he’s now repurposing your DMs, clicks, and cat pics to train Meta’s generative AI models.
📊 Latest Numbers (Q1 2025):
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Revenue YoY | +13.4% |
| Net Income | $13.1 billion |
| Daily Active Users (DAUs) | 2.13 billion (yes, still) |
| AI Spend | $37 billion projected for FY25 |
Meta is still a money printer. But it’s also now:
- Laying off more employees than a bankrupt crypto startup
- Facing lawsuits in Europe over data misuse for AI training
- Using AI to write posts, moderate hate, and predict breakups (ok maybe not the last one… yet)
🧠 EduTake:
Meta is no longer a social media company. It’s an AI vacuum with a blue logo.
They’re in the race against OpenAI and Google — and they’re using your online trauma to win.
🔥 RED FLAGS:
- Privacy regulators in Austria filed an injunction threat over Meta’s use of EU user data to train LLaMA (Meta’s AI model).
- Meta is quietly reducing headcount while calling it “efficiency optimization.”
Spoiler: If you got fired, they optimized you.
📉 Risk to Watch:
If EU courts ban Meta from using user data for training, LLaMA might end up a llama with no brain.
🔍 GOOGLE (ALPHABET): Losing Grip or Playing 4D Chess?
Alphabet’s latest earnings were strong, but one comment from an Apple executive sent the stock into a $160 billion nosedive.
“Apple is working on its own AI search engine.”
Cue panic in Mountain View.
📉 Stock Snapshot (May 2025):
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Price | $166.81 (↓20% from peak) |
| PE Ratio | 22.4x (not bad, not great) |
| Market Cap | $1.78 trillion |
| YouTube Revenue | $11.2 billion (Q1 2025) |
Even though they’re still the kings of ads, YouTube, and “Did you mean…”, Alphabet has a few bad cards:
🚨 Ongoing Threats:
- Regulatory pressure in the U.S. and EU: Many are demanding Alphabet be broken up (YouTube, Ads, Android — all separate).
- Apple threat: If Apple launches its own search — even as a default — Google could lose 15–20% of mobile search market share.
- Bard AI vs ChatGPT: Still struggling to convince people that Bard is not just Clippy with a lab coat.
🧠 EduTake:
Google is still elite — but its monopoly moat is getting leaked on by Apple and OpenAI, one drop at a time.
The stock isn’t overpriced. But if it loses control of search, expect multiples to shrink like Android’s market share in Cupertino.
🚀 REDDIT (RDDT): WallStreetBets With a Nasdaq Sticker
If Meta is a cyborg and Google is a slow-moving megaship, Reddit is a pirate radio station that accidentally IPO’ed.
📈 IPO Recap:
- IPO Price: $34
- Market Cap at launch: $6.4 billion
- Raised: $748 million
- Current Price: $39.28 (↑14.17% last week)
And yet, Reddit is barely profitable, its revenue model is 95% ads, and its users would rather burn the place down than see it succeed.
👀 Key Facts:
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Monthly Active Users | 500 million (est.) |
| Revenue (FY24) | $804 million |
| Net Income | -$44 million (still unprofitable) |
| Data Licensing | Signed deals with OpenAI & Google |
Yes — Reddit is now selling your memes and karma posts to AI companies.
So next time ChatGPT writes a clever comeback, it may have trained on your 2019 post in r/ShowerThoughts.
🧠 EduTake:
Reddit isn’t profitable, but it’s culturally priceless — and in an AI data war, culture = currency.
If they play their cards right, Reddit can become the Bloomberg Terminal of internet people — licensing data to every LLM under the sun.
💰 Investment Outlook
Here’s your cheat sheet:
| Company | Status | Investment Style | Risk Meter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meta | Profitable AI Giant | Long-term growth, data risks | 🔶 Moderate |
| Slightly wounded king | Value + AI hedge | 🔶 Moderate | |
| High-risk IP play | Memes, data, volatility | 🔴 High |
For India-based investors, U.S. exposure to these names can come via:
- Motilal Oswal Nasdaq ETF
- Invesco Global Consumer Trends Fund
- INDmoney U.S. Stocks platform
🧨 Final EduVerdict: Pick Your Player
- Want a money-making AI beast that might get sued in 17 countries? → Meta
- Want a tech overlord trying to survive middle age? → Google
- Want a cultural data mine disguised as a meme site? → Reddit
All three are riding the AI wave — the question is who’s surfing, and who’s already underwater.
If AI is the new gold rush, Meta owns the mine, Google owns the map, and Reddit… well, Reddit probably made the meme about it going bust.
