Today, Alphabet, the parent company of Google, has officially crossed the $3 trillion market capitalization threshold for the first time, cementing its place among the most valuable companies in the world. This milestone was achieved following a jump in the company’s share price, driven by renewed investor optimism around AI, a major legal win in a long-running antitrust case, and strong performance in its cloud computing division.
The shares of Alphabet’s stock climbed to trade above $251 from $240 last week. This rally pushed Alphabet into an elite group of tech giants that have achieved valuations of $3 trillion or more, joining Apple, Microsoft, and Nvidia — the latter having already surpassed $4 trillion earlier this year.
A significant catalyst for the stock’s rise was a favorable ruling from a U.S. federal judge in a high-profile antitrust case. Regulators had sought to force Google to divest its Chrome browser and potentially the Android mobile operating system, claiming that the company’s dominance in search and mobile ecosystems harmed competition. The court rejected these claims, enabling Alphabet to retain control of both products, though it will be required to share certain data with competitors. This decision eased fears of a forced breakup and was widely seen as a turning point in the company’s regulatory battles.
Google’s legal team argued strongly against divestiture by focusing on three main themes: technical integration, market dynamics, and the unintended consequences of a breakup. First, they emphasized that Chrome is deeply integrated into Google’s broader ecosystem of products and services, especially its search, advertising, and security infrastructure.
The company’s counsel argued that separating Chrome from Google would not be a clean or simple process since the browser is not an isolated business unit. Instead, it shares engineering resources, security protocols, and AI-driven features with other Google products. They also maintained that this integration benefits users by ensuring faster updates, better security, and seamless interoperability across devices.
Plus, Google’s counsel contended that the browser market remains competitive, pointing to the presence of strong rivals such as Apple’s Safari, Microsoft Edge, and Mozilla Firefox. They argued that Chrome’s popularity is the result of product quality and user choice, not coercion, and that consumers could easily switch browsers at no cost. By this reasoning, removing Chrome from Google’s control would not necessarily increase competition but could disrupt a product that millions of people actively choose to use.
Google’s counsel also warned that forcing a sale could harm both users and the broader web ecosystem by suggesting that a divested Chrome might lose access to Google’s security infrastructure, privacy protections, and ongoing investment in performance improvements. This could fragment web standards and slow innovation, as Chrome has historically played a significant role in advancing browser technology.
This legal victory came alongside strong financial results. Alphabet’s cloud computing unit reported a nearly 32% jump in second-quarter revenue, surpassing analyst expectations. This growth was fueled in part by the company’s investments in custom chips and its Gemini AI model, which is being integrated across Google’s advertising, search, and enterprise services. Overall, Alphabet’s revenue rose 15% year-over-year, reflecting demand for AI-enabled products and services.
Alphabet’s rise to the $3 trillion mark comes about 20 years after Google’s initial public offering and just over a decade after the creation of Alphabet as a holding company. Under CEO Sundar Pichai’s leadership since 2019, the company has navigated intensifying competition in AI, shifting regulatory landscapes, and rapid changes in consumer technology.
