New York, Jan 23, 2026, 10:36 EST — Regular session
- Alphabet’s non-voting Class C shares (GOOG) gained roughly 0.5% in early trading.
- A U.S. judge ruled that consumers may proceed with a fresh antitrust lawsuit challenging Google’s hold over search.
- Traders are eyeing a new bullish call that sets a $400 target on Alphabet ahead of its early-February earnings.
Alphabet’s non-voting Class C shares (GOOG) edged up roughly 0.5% to $332.35 on Friday. The move came after a U.S. judge ruled that Google must face a consumer antitrust lawsuit tied to its search dominance. The stock fluctuated between $329.68 and $333.97, putting Alphabet’s market cap near $2.94 trillion. (Reuters)
The timing matters because the case targets the core of search — default placement — just as Google is revamping its search with AI and investing heavily to maintain its lead. Antitrust law focuses on competition, and search remains the business investors count on as Google’s primary cash generator.
Legal risk isn’t the only thing moving the needle. Bulls are betting more on cloud and AI to drive the story forward, even if regulatory pressure mounts. That thesis faces a real test soon, when Alphabet reports its latest growth and spending figures.
On Jan. 21, U.S. District Judge Rita Lin ruled that the proposed class action has laid out sufficient grounds to proceed with key federal antitrust claims for now. However, she cut back on portions related to conduct before 2017 and gave plaintiffs the chance to refile certain older allegations.
Consumers claim Google locked in its spot as the default search engine through deals with device makers, carriers, and browser developers. These agreements, they argue, shut out competitors who might have offered fewer ads, better privacy, or even user rewards. Google has denied any misconduct, according to the filing.
Raymond James analyst Josh Beck bumped Alphabet to a “Strong Buy” rating and raised his price target to $400 from $315. He pointed to a “cycle” underway of better AI narrative and upward forecast revisions. The note also referenced Liz Reid, head of Google Search, who said, “With AI Overviews, people are searching more.” (Investing)
AI Overviews, Google’s feature that drops an AI-generated summary atop the usual links, marks a significant change in how users browse results—and where ads might appear down the line. Any court-mandated tweak affecting default placement would coincide with Google’s own public-facing product update.
The competitive landscape is well-known. Microsoft’s Bing and privacy-minded rivals such as DuckDuckGo continue to push into search, even as investors size up Google Cloud alongside Amazon’s AWS and Microsoft’s Azure with major AI deals shifting hands.
Friday’s modest move also underscores the risk for traders: legal news can be both noisy and drawn-out. This consumer case is still in its early stages, and even after a motion to dismiss is denied, the road to any remedy remains lengthy and uncertain.
Another risk lurks here. Should new AI search formats cut into monetizable clicks, or if AI infrastructure expenses remain high, investors might rethink how much of that growth actually boosts profits — even before any legal surprises hit.
Alphabet’s fourth-quarter earnings drop on Feb. 4 is the next major event to watch. The company will hold its conference call at 1:30 p.m. Pacific (4:30 p.m. Eastern). Investors will be keen to hear any clues on how search monetization is holding up in the AI era, as well as updates on the growing legal challenges. (Alphabet Investor Relations)
