U.K. blocks Microsoft-Activision Blizzard deal, Alphabet earnings, Chipotle earnings: 3 things to know

Yahoo Finance Live’s Brad Smith summarizes three key topics to watch for this morning.

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BRAD SMITH: Let's get right to the three things that you need to know to start off your morning. First thing you need to know, UK regulators have blocked Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard over concerns that the deal would harm competition and stifle innovation in the gaming market. Microsoft said it plans to appeal the decision.

The ruling arrives after the tech giant posted an earnings beat as its cloud strength offset weaker demand in its personal computing business. Its cloud segment Azure grew nearly 30% on the year. And the company also played up its AI-powered search engine, Bing, ramping up the battle of the search engine. Bring it on, Google.

Second thing you need to know, speaking of Google, Alphabet, Google's parent company, topped estimates during its fiscal first quarter, showing signs of resilience in the overall struggling tech sector. The company's revenue grew 7%, while its cloud business posted a profit for the first time since its launch. YouTube's ad revenue posted a small but notable beat but declined compared to last year.

On the earnings call, the company touted its foray into AI, calling it the North Star. Investors will be closely watching to see how the generative AI battle in big tech plays out.

And third thing that you need to know, inflation isn't stopping consumers from getting their burritos. Chipotle powered past expectations in the first quarter, posting a 17% rise in revenue as total same-store sales saw a boost in-restaurant-- a boost in-restaurant sales, rather, I should say, also rose, while digital sales are edging higher, making up nearly 40% of its revenue. Over the past year, Chipotle has raised prices around 10% and said that it's going to increase again if it's necessary.