alphabet Shares rose 9.14% on Wednesday as investors viewed the outcome of Google’s antitrust case as a widespread advantage for tech giants.
Profit on Wednesday added $234 billion to the company’s market capitalization. apple 3.81% closed and added $130 billion to the cap.
The U.S. Department of Justice had proposed a type of disbandment of Google, including the sale of its Chrome browser, in the antitrust law that began in September 2023.
Last year, Google was found to have an illegal monopoly in the core markets of internet searches, but US District Judge Amit Mehta opposed the most serious consequences proposed by the DOJ.
Google doesn’t need to sell Chrome. The company may continue to pay to preload the product to the company, but it cannot enter into exclusive agreements subject to terms of payment or license.
This means that Google can pay billions of dollars to Apple to become the default search engine for iPhone.
“It’s a monster victory for Cupertino and for Google it’s a home run domination that removes a big overhang in stock,” Daniel Ives, global head of technology research at Wedbush Securities, said in a note on Apple’s headquarters in California on Tuesday.
Google faces increased competition from core search businesses, including Perplexity and Openai. However, the company has so far avoided the challenges as its advertising business is still growing.
Google is hoping to become a leading artificial intelligence player with Gemini, a suite of AI models and chatbots listed under the same name.
“Following today’s announcement, the long-term durability of Google’s search business has become increasingly constructive, and we are increasing estimates accordingly,” Ives said, adding that it now has a new price target of $245 for Alphabet’s shares.
The ruling also means there is no need to sell the Android operating system developed by Google.
Android is considered an important tool for increasing Gemini users, with around 70% of smartphones running their operating systems globally, and the US technology giant will provide an existing user base.
Google and Apple’s daily stock chart.
– CNBC’s Jennifer Elias contributed to this report.
