Alphabet Shares Surge After Court Rules Against Breakup

Mountain View, Sept. 3, 2025 - Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL) jumped sharply on Wednesday following a U.S. District Court ruling that rejected the U.S. Justice Department’s push to dismantle Google’s core businesses.

Amit Mehta, the presiding judge, ruled on Tuesday that Alphabet need not divest its Chrome browser or Android operating system, alleviating a major regulatory overhang and unlocking roughly $206 billion in market value for the company. In premarket trading, Alphabet stock climbed about 8%, trading as high as $230.86, before settling with an intraday gain of approximately 8.3% at $229.48.

The decision permits Google to maintain its lucrative $20 billion annual search partnership with Apple, while imposing limited restrictions on exclusive agreements with device manufacturers and browser developers. Under the ruling, Alphabet must share certain search index and interaction data with competitors, a measure intended to foster competition in AI-driven search tools.

Market analysts applauded the outcome as a pragmatic solution. “This decision lifts a considerable legal cloud and indicates the court is inclined toward practical solutions rather than extreme measures,” said Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) also saw a gain of about 3.2% in response to the ruling.

Year to date, Alphabet’s shares have risen nearly 11.7%, slightly outperforming the S&P 500, although trailing fellow “Magnificent Seven” peers such as Meta and Microsoft. The ruling is also expected to pave the way for deeper collaboration between Apple and Google, with analysts noting the potential integration of Google’s Gemini AI into forthcoming iPhone models.