Alphabet likely to highlight digital ad, cloud strength at I/O developer conference
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) is likely to highlight its strength in its digital advertising and cloud businesses at its I/IO developer conference, set to kick this week, according to investment firm Monness, Crespi, Hardt.
Analyst Brian White, who rates Alphabet (GOOG) (GOOGL) shares buy with a $3,500 per-share price target, noted that even though the global economy may be slowing, continued problems with geopolitics, "never-ending" antitrust battles and the "tech meltdown" being seen in the market, Alphabet is likely to keep moving along.
"Historically, Google I/O has been used to highlight the latest version of Android, discuss key capabilities, and provide a general timeline on availability," White wrote in a note to clients.
Alphabet (GOOG) (GOOGL) shares fell less than 1% to $2,294.61 in mid-day trading on Monday.
Among the key announcements likely to be made include Android 13, which was first announced in February, with a beta version released last month.
White believes Google will highlight a number of privacy and security elements in Android 13, following Apple's (AAPL) move to continue increasing privacy as part of its iOS mobile operating system. 
"On the privacy and security front, Android 13 includes new capabilities, including 'a photo picker that allows users to share photos and videos securely with apps, and a new Wi-Fi permission to further minimize the need for apps to have the location permission,'" White wrote.
In addition, White highlighted the fact that digital regulation is occurring at a faster pace in Europe than in the U.S., and Alphabet (GOOG) (GOOGL) has to "contend with this changing landscape." 
Aside from the Digital Services Act, which lets citizens have better control over how their online data is used by companies, European lawmakers created the Digital Markets Act, which goes after "core platform services" and could impact their ability to offer targeted advertising.
It's also likely that Google Play will undergo changes, following comments made by European Commission Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager at last week's ICN Annual Conference.
Earlier this month, Google (GOOG) (GOOGL) confirmed that it was acquiring Raxium, a California-based startup focused on MicroLED technology that many believe could help the tech giant with future augmented and mixed reality headsets.