NEW YORK, Jan 28, 2026, 10:15 (ET) — Regular session
- Alphabet Class C (GOOG) up about 0.4% in morning trade, near $336
- Google faces fresh pressure from UK and EU regulators over Search and AI features
- Investors look ahead to Alphabet earnings on Feb. 4 after a choppy stretch for Big Tech
Alphabet Inc’s Class C shares (GOOG) edged higher on Wednesday as Google agreed to pay $135 million to settle a lawsuit tied to Android data use and traders weighed new regulatory moves in Europe and Britain. The non-voting shares were up 0.4% at $336.36 in morning trading.
The move came as Wall Street started the day on firmer footing, with the S&P 500 brushing the 7,000 mark and investors lining up around a Federal Reserve rate decision and a slate of Big Tech earnings. Chip stocks led early gains. 1
For Alphabet, the near-term test is whether the market stays patient with heavy spending on AI and the growing list of rule-makers demanding changes to how Google’s services work. “Expectations are very high,” said Anthony Saglimbene, chief market strategist at Ameriprise Financial, adding there is less room for disappointment from megacaps this week. 2
In Europe, regulators on Tuesday opened two proceedings under the Digital Markets Act, which is meant to curb Big Tech’s power, to spell out how Google should give rivals access to parts of Search and its Gemini AI services. EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen said the aim is to give competitors “the same access to search data” as Google’s own services. 3
Britain’s Competition and Markets Authority on Wednesday proposed measures that would let publishers “opt out” of their content being used in Google’s AI Overviews or to train standalone AI models. The CMA said its consultation on the package runs until Feb. 25. 4
Separately, Google agreed to pay $135 million to settle a proposed class action by smartphone users who said Android collected their cellular data without permission. The preliminary deal was filed late Tuesday in San Jose, California, and still needs a judge’s approval; Google denied wrongdoing. 5
Alphabet has been the relative standout among megacaps, with its shares up about 29% in the last three months of 2025 after investors warmed to Google’s Gemini 3 model and an AI deal with Apple for a revamped Siri. David Wagner, head of equities at Aptus Capital Advisors, said “proprietary ecosystems, such as Apple and Search in Google, are tough to penetrate.” Analysts expect Alphabet revenue to rise 15.5% to $111.37 billion, with Google Cloud growth seen quickening to 35% and a chip-supply deal with Anthropic adding another moving part. 6
But the same AI push that has helped drive the stock can cut the other way if costs rise faster than revenue, especially if regulators force changes that weaken search monetization or make AI features harder to roll out across markets. The latest actions in the UK and EU also underline how quickly the policy risk can re-price, even when the share move on the day looks small.
What investors watch next is Alphabet’s fourth-quarter and full-year results on Feb. 4, with the company set to hold its conference call at 4:30 p.m. ET. 7
