Waymo Expands into Southeast Asia, Boosts Alphabet Stock

Alphabet's stock price rose over 2% in premarket trading on Friday after Waymo announced its plans to introduce self-driving ride-hailing services in Singapore by 2028.

This move marks Waymo's first foray into the Southeast Asian market, where it will deploy fully autonomous electric Jaguar I-PACE vehicles. The company aims to conduct extensive road mapping and system validation across Singapore's unique environment from 2027 onwards.

The favorable court decision in Google's ad tech antitrust litigation also contributed to Alphabet's surge in stock price. A federal court declined to mandate the divestiture of Google's AdX platform, alleviating investor concerns about potential business fragmentation.

Tigress Financial Partners increased its GOOGL price target to $485 from $415, citing Alphabet's artificial intelligence capabilities as a key driver of growth across various business segments. Analysts maintain a Strong Buy rating on GOOGL with a consensus target of $429.31, indicating 23.6% potential appreciation.