New York, January 25, 2026, 09:32 EST — Market closed.
- Alphabet Class C shares (GOOG) closed Friday down 0.73%, finishing at $328.43. 1
- U.S. investigators launched a safety probe into Waymo, Alphabet’s self-driving unit, after reports that its robotaxis passed stopped school buses in Texas. 2
Alphabet’s Class C shares enter Monday’s U.S. session amid new regulatory scrutiny of Waymo. The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board has launched an investigation into the robotaxi operator after reports that Waymo vehicles passed stopped school buses illegally in Austin at least 19 times. This occurred despite a software update connected to a recall affecting more than 3,000 vehicles. Waymo maintains it is “confident” its safety record around school buses surpasses that of human drivers. 3
GOOG slipped 0.73% to $328.43 on Friday, falling behind a handful of other megacap giants amid a patchy market. About 19 million shares changed hands. 4
Timing is key. This week, regulators, central bankers, and earnings reports are all poised to shake the tape, and Alphabet’s stock usually feels those shifts in risk appetite.
Waymo doesn’t headline Alphabet’s earnings report, yet it remains one of the company’s most high-profile long-term bets. Increased safety scrutiny could slow deployment, push up compliance expenses, or force Alphabet to limit operations in certain regions.
U.S. stocks wrapped up Friday with the Nasdaq climbing 0.3%, while the Dow slipped roughly 0.6%. It was a choppy week, driven by earnings reports and changing bets on interest rates. 5
All eyes turn to rate expectations once more. The Federal Open Market Committee, the Fed’s rate-setting panel, is scheduled to meet January 27-28. Their statement and Chair Jerome Powell’s press briefing will follow on January 28. 6
There’s a shift in some key macro data releases. The Bureau of Economic Analysis pushed back the advance GDP estimate for Q4 from January 29 to February 20. On that same day, they’ll also release December personal income and outlays. 7
Tech’s next big catalyst: earnings. Microsoft will report after the bell on January 28, followed by its earnings call at 2:30 p.m. Pacific time. 8
Meta Platforms will report earnings after the close on January 28. The company’s conference call is set for 4:30 p.m. Eastern time. 9
Apple is set to release its first-quarter earnings on Thursday, January 29. The report will offer fresh insight into consumer demand and how its services segment is performing—data that often ripples through the wider big-tech landscape. 10
Alphabet is set to release its fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 earnings on February 4. The company will hold a conference call at 1:30 p.m. Pacific time (4:30 p.m. Eastern). 11
Near-term, the headline loop poses the biggest risk. Should the Waymo probe expand or regulators clamp down with stricter operating rules, uncertainty will spike right as the market grapples with Fed signals and a heavy schedule of megacap earnings. Investors will focus on Monday’s open for the initial cues, then on the Fed meeting January 28, followed by Alphabet’s earnings on February 4.
