New York, Jan 11, 2026, 09:35 EST — Market closed.
Alphabet Inc’s non-voting Class C shares (GOOG) closed Friday up 0.96% at $329.14, hitting an intraday peak of $331.48 as strong demand for big tech lingered into the final minutes.
The upcoming session kicks off with a tense policy battle for Google’s Play store and Apple’s App Store. Senators are demanding both platforms remove X and its Grok chatbot amid an outcry over a surge of nonconsensual sexual images.
Alphabet’s stock is moving in step with other megacap tech shares, reacting to shifts in rate expectations. Investors are also gearing up for the company’s upcoming earnings report and looming regulatory milestones.
On Friday, Democratic Senators Ron Wyden, Ben Ray Lujan, and Edward Markey called on Google and Apple to pull X and Grok from their app stores until the companies fix what they describe as policy violations. Wyden emailed that “All X’s changes do is make some of its users pay … while Musk profits.” Reuters
Alphabet didn’t immediately reply to Reuters for comment on the report. Any attempt to delist a major social-media app would almost certainly trigger a swift political backlash, leaving traders uncertain about what comes next.
The app-store controversy comes as Wall Street doubles down on the “AI trade.” Cantor Fitzgerald’s Deepak Mathivanan, who upgraded Alphabet, dubbed it the “king of all AI trades” in a note picked up by MarketWatch. MarketWatch
Alphabet is set to release its quarterly results next, with a call scheduled for Feb. 4 at 1:30 p.m. Pacific (4:30 p.m. Eastern). The company will cover both fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 figures.
Deal watchers have a key date: EU antitrust regulators must decide by Feb. 10 whether to approve Alphabet’s $32 billion acquisition of Wiz or launch a more thorough investigation, according to a filing on the European Commission website. This decision is crucial for Google Cloud as it vies with Microsoft and Amazon.
The downside scenario is well-known: policy crackdowns intensify, leading to stricter platform regulations, or regulators expand their oversight just as AI-driven growth forecasts push earnings higher. A slip in ad demand or a surge in costs could quickly shake a stock that’s already valued for flawless execution.
Traders face a key macro test first. The U.S. Consumer Price Index for December 2025 arrives Tuesday, Jan. 13, at 8:30 a.m. ET. This data could shift rate expectations and ripple through high-multiple tech stocks.
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