Google (GOOGL) Stock: 7 Key Things to Know Before the Market Opens on November 24, 2025

Alphabet, Google’s parent company, is heading into Monday’s session in a very different position than it was just a year ago. The stock is near record highs, its market cap has blown past $3.6 trillion, it has just overtaken Microsoft in value, and it sits at the center of both the AI boom and the AI bubble worries. ^[1]

Below is a detailed look at what traders and long‑term investors may want to know about Google stock before the bell rings on Monday, November 24, 2025.

Important: This article is for information and education only and is not financial advice. Always do your own research or consult a licensed professional before investing.

Quick Snapshot: Where Google Stock Stands Now

1. Price, market cap and recent move

Alphabet’s Class A shares (GOOGL) closed Friday, November 21 at about $299.66, up roughly 3.5% on the dayand more than 8% over the past week as buyers piled in after a series of AI and regulatory headlines. ^[2]
At that price, Alphabet’s market value is around $3.6 trillion, making it one of the three most valuable public companies on the planet. ^[3]

2. Alphabet just overtook Microsoft in market value

On Friday, Alphabet’s market cap hit roughly $3.62 trillion, slipping ahead of Microsoft at about $3.51 trillion. That’s the first time since 2018 that Google has ended a session more valuable than its long‑time cloud and AI rival. ^[4]

For context:

Alphabet shares are up around 60% in 2025, driven by strong earnings, growing AI adoption and a search antitrust outcome that was less severe than investors once feared. ^[5]
Over the last 12 months, its market cap has climbed about 65–70%, underscoring how powerful the AI trade has been. ^[6]

3. Valuation: Still cheaper than some AI peers, but no longer cheap”

Depending on the exact data source, Alphabet now trades at roughly 23–25× forward earnings, slightly above its five‑year average but still below Microsoft and Nvidia on the same metric. ^[7]

That sets up a core question for tomorrow’s session and the weeks ahead:

Is Google still a value‑tilted AI play,” or has the stock already priced in most of its AI upside?

1. The Fundamental Backdrop: A Record $100B Quarter

Alphabet’s Q3 2025 results (reported October 29) are the starting point for basically every bull case going into Monday.

Key numbers:

Revenue: About $102.3 billion, the first time Alphabet has ever cleared the $100B mark in a single quarter, up around 16% year‑over‑year, and ahead of Wall Street estimates. ^[8]
Earnings per share (EPS): Roughly $2.87, vs. consensus estimates near $2.29 and up from $2.12 a year earlier. ^[9]
Margins & profitability: Net margin has pushed above 32%, with return on equity in the mid‑30s, showing that the AI and infrastructure spending spree hasn’t yet crushed profitability. ^[10]

All of Alphabet’s major businesses grew at least double‑digits year‑over‑year:

Search & ads: Still the profit machine and growing again at a healthy clip after fears that chatbots would erode the core search franchise. ^[11]
YouTube: Reaccelerating on the back of shorts, connected‑TV viewing, and new AI tools for creators. ^[12]
Google Cloud: One of the brightest spots, with growth re‑accelerating and AI workloads doing much of the heavy lifting. ^[13]

From an earnings standpoint, Alphabet is going into Monday with momentum firmly at its back.

2. AI Momentum: Gemini 3, 650M+ Users and AI Mode” in Search

Alphabet’s valuation and its market‑cap jump aren’t just about ad recovery; they’re about AI.

Gemini ecosystem by the numbers

On the company’s Q3 call and follow‑up remarks, CEO Sundar Pichai laid out how deeply AI has saturated the business: ^[14]

Google’s own models (like Gemini) now process about 7 billion tokens per minute via customer API calls.
The standalone Gemini app has more than 650 million monthly active users, and queries tripled versus the prior quarter.
Google Cloud’s AI‑driven backlog grew about 46% quarter‑over‑quarter to roughly $155 billion, signaling strong demand for future AI services.
Alphabet now counts over 300 million paid subscriptions (driven by Google One and YouTube Premium), helping diversify revenue beyond ads.

Third‑party trackers back up the scale of that adoption, estimating 650M+ active Gemini users and highlighting rapid growth in engagement since launch. ^[15]

Gemini 3 launch this week

The biggest immediate AI catalyst heading into Monday’s open is Gemini 3, announced on November 18 as Google’s most intelligent” model to date. ^[16]

Highlights investors are watching:

Stronger reasoning & multimodal performance versus prior versions, aimed squarely at high‑value enterprise and developer use cases. ^[17]
Day‑one integration into Search via a new AI Mode, plus availability across the Gemini app, AI Studio, Vertex AI, and Google’s Antigravity” agent‑development platform. ^[18]
External coverage has already dubbed Gemini 3 the leading AI chatbot in several industry tests, beating rivals like ChatGPT on key benchmarks. ^[19]

From a stock perspective, Gemini 3 matters because it:

Strengthens the moat around Google Search and YouTube with AI‑enhanced experiences.
Drives high‑margin cloud and API usage, which investors hope will offset massive infrastructure spending.
Reinforces the narrative that Alphabet is not behind in AI, but possibly in a leadership position.

3. The Warren Buffett Effect: Berkshire’s $4–5 Billion Alphabet Stake

One of the biggest storylines for Google stock this month has been Berkshire Hathaway’s surprise move into Alphabet.

What Berkshire did

Berkshire revealed a new stake of about 17.85 million Alphabet shares, worth roughly $4.3–4.9 billion at the time of the filing. ^[20]
That position instantly became one of Berkshire’s top ten holdings, even as it continued trimming its long‑time Apple stake. ^[21]

The reaction was immediate:

Alphabet shares jumped nearly 6% to record highs after the stake became public, adding tens of billions of dollars in market value in a single session. ^[22]

Why it matters heading into Monday

Berkshire’s imprimatur matters in three ways:

Signal on valuation
Analysts note that even after a huge AI‑driven run, Alphabet still trades at a discount to peers like Microsoft and Nvidia on forward earnings, making it a more value‑friendly” way to bet on AI. ^[23]
Reinforcing the AI story
Commentary around the stake has emphasized Google’s AI infrastructure, its early success with AI in search, and the cash‑rich ad business that can fund data‑center spending. ^[24]
Portfolio shift at Berkshire
Reuters and others have framed the move as a rare, more modern” bet from historically tech‑averse Berkshire, and possibly a preview of incoming CEO Greg Abel’s approach. ^[25]

In practical terms, Berkshire’s backing has added support under the stock and may continue to attract copy‑cat institutional and retail inflows—a factor traders will be watching in pre‑market and at the open on Monday.

4. Antitrust: Less Bad Than Feared in Search, but Ad‑Tech Case Looms

Regulation remains one of the biggest medium‑term risks for Google stock. The news flow here is mixed: a clearer picture in search, but lingering uncertainty in advertising technology.

Search antitrust: behavioral remedies, not a breakup

On September 2, 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice announced significant remedies after winning its search antitrust case. Key points: ^[26]

Google is barred from using exclusionary contracts that lock in its search engine, Chrome browser, Google Assistant, or the Gemini app as defaults in ways that crowd out rivals.
The company must share portions of its search index and user interaction data with qualified competitors and offer certain search and search‑ad syndication services to rivals.
Crucially for investors, courts rejected calls for a structural breakup of core assets like Chrome or Android, opting instead for behavioral and data‑sharing remedies. ^[27]

For the stock, this was a big overhang removed. It keeps Alphabet under stricter oversight but avoids the nightmare scenario of being forced to spin off key platforms.

Ad‑tech trial: judge wants a quick fix,” DOJ wants a breakup

The remaining major cloud on the horizon is the DOJ’s separate case targeting Google’s advertising technology stack.

On Friday, November 21, the trial reached closing arguments. The DOJ is asking a judge in Virginia to force Google to sell its ad exchange (AdX) and related ad‑tech assets, arguing nothing short of a divestiture will restore competition. ^[28]
Judge Leonie Brinkema has already ruled that Google holds two illegal ad‑tech monopolies and is now deciding the remedy. She pressed the DOJ on how long a breakup would take and stressed that time is of the essence”, noting any appeal could delay structural changes for years. ^[29]
Google’s lawyers argue a breakup would be technically complex, hurt customers, and go beyond what antitrust law requires for lawfully acquired” market power. ^[30]

No remedy decision is expected before Monday’s open, but headline risk is real. Any leak, commentary, or fresh analyst note about likely outcomes could nudge the stock in either direction.

5. Sundar Pichai’s AI Bubble Warning: A Caution Flag at All‑Time Highs

In the middle of this rally, Google’s CEO did something unusual: he publicly acknowledged the possibility of an AI bubble and suggested that no firm—including Google—would be immune if it bursts.

In a November 18 interview with the BBC, covered by Reuters:

Pichai called the current wave of AI spending an extraordinary moment” but said there are clear elements of irrationality” in valuations, echoing dot‑com‑era warnings about irrational exuberance.”
He said that if an AI bubble were to pop, no company is going to be immune, including us,” even though he believes Google is well‑positioned to weather turbulence. ^[31]
He also highlighted the immense” energy needs of AI, warning that Alphabet’s net‑zero emissions timeline could slip as it ramps up compute for models like Gemini. ^[32]

For Monday’s session, this matters in two ways:

Sentiment check – When the CEO of one of the biggest AI winners starts talking openly about a bubble, some investors will see it as a reason to trim exposure or at least be more tactical.
Cost and margin concerns – AI data centers are extremely capital‑intensive. Alphabet has already nudged its 2025 capital‑expenditure plans into the low‑$90 billion range, largely to fund AI infrastructure. ^[33]

So far, the market has shrugged off these warnings, but they’re part of the backdrop as the stock trades near all‑time highs.

6. Analyst Views, Earnings Revisions and the New Dividend

Analyst earnings upgrades

Analysts have been racing to catch up with Alphabet’s performance:

Zacks Research recently lifted its FY2025 EPS estimate for Alphabet from $9.83 to $10.54, well above the current consensus near $8.89. ^[34]
The same note projected EPS continuing to rise into 2026 and 2027, reflecting expectations that AI and cloud growth can more than offset higher capex and regulatory friction. ^[35]

MarketBeat’s aggregation of broker research shows:

A broad Moderate Buy” consensus on the stock.
A consensus price target around $325, implying upside from Friday’s close but much less than the stock has already delivered this year. ^[36]

Alphabet is now a dividend stock (technically)

Another subtle but important shift: Alphabet is no longer a pure growth only” name.

The board has authorized a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, or $0.84 annualized, implying a modest yield of about 0.3% at current prices. ^[37]

The yield won’t excite income investors, but it signals confidence in durable free‑cash‑flow generation and paves the way for gradual increases over time.

Heading into Monday, the combination of rising earnings estimates, a huge buyback program (noted in prior quarters), and a growing dividend gives fundamental investors a cushion—though not immunity—against volatility.

7. Macro and Market Context: AI Leaders in a Fragile Rally

Alphabet’s Monday open will also be shaped by broader market forces.

Big Tech and AI‑linked stocks have powered major U.S. indexes to record or near‑record levels this year, with Alphabet singled out by Reuters as a standout among the Magnificent Seven.” ^[38]
At the same time, multiple pieces of recent analysis warn of holiday‑season turbulence as investors juggle expectations for Fed rate cuts, mixed economic data, and doubts about how quickly AI spending will translate into profits. ^[39]

For Alphabet specifically:

A higher‑for‑longer interest‑rate narrative would typically pressure richly valued growth stocks, including mega‑cap AI names.
On the flip side, any signs of slowing inflation or dovish central‑bank commentary tend to be bullish for high‑duration assets like Google.

We don’t get major Alphabet‑specific catalysts on Monday—no earnings report or investor day is scheduled—but macro headlines and flows into/out of the broader tech complex could still move the stock.

What to Watch in Google Stock at Monday’s Open

Putting it all together, here are the seven key things traders and investors may want to watch as Alphabet trades on November 24, 2025:

Opening print vs. $300 psychological level
Friday’s close just under $300 makes that round number an obvious focus. A strong open above and hold throughout the day would reinforce the bulls’ control; repeated failures above $300 could invite short‑term profit‑taking. ^[40]
Follow‑through after the Microsoft market‑cap flip”
Alphabet’s new edge over Microsoft could either attract new momentum buyers—or trigger a bout of sell the news” as traders lock in gains after the headline‑driven run. ^[41]
Reaction to Gemini 3 coverage and benchmarks
Any new reports on Gemini 3’s performance, adoption or monetization could support the AI narrative—or, if competitors answer with strong updates of their own, narrow Google’s perceived advantage. ^[42]
Ongoing commentary around the ad‑tech case
While the judge’s remedy decision is still pending, fresh legal analysis or leaks about potential outcomes could swing sentiment. Traders will be sensitive to any suggestion that a forced sale of AdX is more or less likely. ^[43]
Buffett‑watch: flows into Buffett basket” strategies
With Berkshire’s stake now public, any evidence of Buffett effect” buying—from ETFs, copy‑cat portfolios or retail—could support the stock, especially on any dip. ^[44]
Analyst notes and target changes after the recent run
After the stock’s rapid climb, watch for research houses updating their models. Upgrades, earnings‑estimate hikes, or target raises toward and above $325 would reinforce the bull case, while downgrades on valuation could cool enthusiasm. ^[45]
Positioning into a shortened U.S. trading week
With U.S. Thanksgiving coming later this week, volumes can be choppy and moves exaggerated. Alphabet’s size means it can heavily influence the Nasdaq and S&P 500 on light holiday liquidity, amplifying both upside and downside swings. ^[46]

Bottom Line

Heading into Monday, Google stock sits at the intersection of three powerful forces:

Exceptional fundamentals – record‑breaking revenue, rising margins, strong cloud growth, and a rapidly expanding AI footprint. ^[47]
Rising expectations – a huge 2025 rally, Berkshire’s endorsement, and analysts rewriting their models higher all lean bullish but leave less room for disappointment. ^[48]
Non‑trivial risks – regulatory overhang in ad‑tech, Pichai’s own AI bubble warning, and massive capital‑spending needs that could pressure free cash flow if growth slows. ^[49]

For short‑term traders, Monday’s open is likely to be about whether the stock can consolidate above $300 and sustain its new status ahead of Microsoft. For long‑term investors, the bigger question is whether Alphabet’s AI, cloud and subscription engines can grow fast enough—and long enough—to justify a $3.6 trillion price tag.

Either way, Google stock will be one of the first tickers many market participants check when the bell rings.

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