Alphabet Stock Falls on Macro Volatility Despite Antitrust Win
Alphabet Inc's stock price fell by 1.18% to $338.46 on September 8, despite the company receiving long-awaited legal relief just six days prior. On September 2, U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema ruled that Google would not have to sell its AdX advertising exchange, a decision that analysts had called the single largest near-term regulatory overhang on Alphabet's advertising business.
The ruling removed what analysts had priced as a 15 to 25% discount on Alphabet's enterprise value. In Q2 2026, net income climbed 81%, and earnings per share reached $5.11, up 82% year over year. Search revenue grew 19%, while Google Cloud expanded 63%.
Alphabet is scheduled to report its Q3 2026 earnings on October 29. The DOJ's search monopoly proceeding remains open, with a judge ruling earlier this year that Google illegally maintained a monopoly in search. This case carries wider implications than the advertising ruling and may resolve the regulatory uncertainty that Monday's antitrust win did not.