Alphabet, the parent company of Google, reached a market capitalisation of over $US3 trillion ($4.5 trillion) on Monday (Tuesday AEST), signalling growing investor confidence. Shares climbed as much as 4.8 per cent to $US252.41, propelling the company into a select group of corporations exceeding this valuation milestone. Alphabet’s stock has surged more than 70 per cent since its April low, adding approximately $US1.2 trillion in value during this period. Alphabet operates in various segments, including search, advertising, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence. The company is known for its innovative technologies and services that are used by billions of people worldwide.
Alphabet now stands alongside Nvidia, Microsoft, and Apple as the only publicly traded companies valued at over $US3 trillion. The recent surge in Alphabet’s stock price was partly driven by an antitrust ruling that avoided the most severe penalties sought by regulators, such as the forced sale of its Chrome browser. This favourable outcome, combined with strong second-quarter earnings demonstrating increased sales due to demand for artificial intelligence products, has boosted investor sentiment.
Further bolstering the stock’s performance, Citigroup analyst Ron Josey recently increased his price target for Alphabet from $US225 to $US280. Josey cited an “accelerated product development cycle that is beginning to emerge with greater Gemini adoption across both its Ads and Cloud businesses” as the reason for the revised target. This upward revision reflects optimism about Alphabet’s future growth prospects and its ability to capitalise on emerging trends in the technology sector.
