Why Alphabet (GOOGL) Stock Is Up Today

What Happened?

Shares of online advertising giant Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) jumped 2.7% in the afternoon session after the major indices rebounded (Nasdaq +2.0%, S&P 500 +2.0%) as President Trump postponed the planned 50% tariff on European Union imports, shifting the start date to July 9, 2025. 

Companies with substantial business ties to Europe likely had some relief as the delay reduced near-term cost pressures and preserved cross-border demand.

After the initial pop the shares cooled down to $172.69, up 2.5% from previous close.

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What The Market Is Telling Us

Alphabet’s shares are extremely volatile and have had 39 moves greater than 2.5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful but not something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.

The previous big move we wrote about was 6 days ago when the stock gained 5.2% after the company rolled out new AI tools at its annual I/O show, which was well received by Wall Street as it laid out a detailed plan to maintain its dominance in the web search market. 

The announcement also appeared well-timed, given recent concerns some internet users were leaning more on LLMs like ChatGPT as their default search product. 

What really stood out during the show was "AI Mode," which is like a chat bot baked into Google's search engine. This feature makes it faster for users to access Google's AI search feature, and was rolled out immediately to US users. 

But it wasn't just about search. Google also threw out a bunch of shiny new AI toys. These include Google Beam (a new video chat platform built from the ground up with AI). Then there's a collaboration with Warby Parker to launch AI-powered smart glasses running on Google's Android XR. And for content creators, they teased Veo 3, their next-gen AI video generator. 

In terms of monetization, Google announced a new 'AI Ultra' subscription plan that could fetch up to $249.99 per month, which shows it is heavily invested in enterprises and high-end users who tend to have staying power and could make the products catch on faster. 

Citi analyst Ronald Josey with a Buy rating and $200 price target summed up the Street's sentiment, adding "With AI Mode going live in the U.S., the Gemini App reaching 400M MAUs [monthly active users] (vs. ~350M in March), and AI Overviews delivering query growth, we believe GOOGL's product cadence and user adoption of newer tools is ramping which should provide some stability for Search growth." 

Overall, the announcements indicate Alphabet is not just keeping up in the AI race but is better positioned in the fast-evolving market.

Alphabet is down 8.8% since the beginning of the year, and at $172.69 per share, it is trading 16.3% below its 52-week high of $206.38 from February 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Alphabet’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $2,432.

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