Why Analysts See Alphabet (GOOGL) Weathering DOJ Ruling With Ease

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) is one of the AI Stocks Gaining Attention on Wall Street. On September 8, Phillip Securities analyst Serena Lim Yi Qi downgraded the stock from Buy to Accumulate with a price target of $265.00 (from $235.00).

The downgrade follows Alphabet’s US antitrust ruling from last week. Back in 2024, Google was found guilty of an illegal monopoly in search services and text advertising through exclusionary conduct.

However, severe penalties anticipated such as the forced sale of the Chrome browser and restrictions on Android were rejected by the DOJ, driving investor relief. Instead, rulings such as Google being barred from entering into certain exclusive agreements and the requirement to share parts of its search index and user-interaction data were seen less disruptive to its business model.

Following the ruling, Phillip Securities believes that Google will continue benefitting from “AI-driven product enhancement and operational efficiencies.”

“We view the overall ruling positively and believe restrictions on exclusivity have limited impacts on GOOGL given product strength and partner incentives. We downgraded to ACCUMULATE rating but increased DCF target price to US$265 due to recent price rally. We keep our FY25e revenue unchanged, but reduce WACC from 7.7% to 7.4, reflect the ease of investors’ sentiment over the case decision. We expect GOOGL to continue benefitting from AI-driven product enhancement and operational efficiencies.”

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) is an American multinational technology conglomerate holding company wholly owning the internet giant Google, amongst other businesses.

While we acknowledge the potential of GOOGL as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock.

READ NEXT: 10 AI Stocks Gaining Attention on Wall Street and 10 Hot AI Stocks to Keep on Your Radar.

Disclosure: None.