Alphabet hits $4 trillion valuation as AI refocus lifts sentiment

Alphabet overtakes Apple for first time since 2019, becoming world’s second most valuable firm

Alphabet hit a $4 trillion market valuation on Monday, as the Google parent’s sharpened focus on artificial intelligence eased doubts about its strategy and pushed it back to the forefront of the high-stakes AI race.

The tech giant last week surpassed Apple in market capitalisation for the first time since 2019, becoming the world’s second-most valuable company.

The milestones mark a dramatic turnaround in investor sentiment toward Alphabet. Its shares surged about 65% in 2025, outperforming peers in Wall Street’s elite “Magnificent Seven” group of stocks. The stock has gained another 6% so far this year and was last up 1.1%.

The shift was driven by the company quelling concerns that it had squandered an early AI lead, transforming its once-overlooked cloud unit into a major growth engine and securing a rare tech investment from Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway.

Alphabet’s new Gemini 3 model has also drawn strong reviews, intensifying pressure on OpenAI after its GPT-5 release left some users underwhelmed.

A Reuters report said Samsung Electronics plans to double this year the number of mobile devices equipped with AI features powered by Google’s Gemini.

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Google Cloud revenue jumped 34% in the third quarter, while its backlog of non-recognised sales contracts rose to $155 billion. Renting out Google’s self-developed AI chips — previously reserved for internal use — to external customers has further accelerated growth.

Highlighting rising demand, The Information reported that Meta Platforms is in talks to spend billions of dollars on Alphabet’s chips for use in its data centres starting in 2027.

Meanwhile, Alphabet’s dominant advertising business has remained largely resilient despite economic uncertainty and intense competition.

Alphabet is the fourth company to reach the $4 trillion milestone, following Nvidia, Microsoft and Apple.

The stock has also benefited from a US court ruling in September that rejected calls to break up the company, allowing it to retain control of its Chrome browser and Android mobile operating system.