Google parent Alphabet hits $3 trillion market cap for the first time

New Delhi: Alphabet Inc., the parent company of Google, has officially joined the $3 trillion market cap club, becoming the third US tech giant to achieve this milestone, following Apple and Microsoft. 

The valuation, reached in Monday’s trading, shows that investors are becoming more confident in Big Tech’s big bets on artificial intelligence and its potential to change many industries.

The company’s market cap crossed the $3 trillion threshold just after 2 p.m. ET, with shares trading at an all-time high. 

This milestone places Alphabet alongside Apple, which hit $3 trillion in 2022, and Microsoft, which joined earlier this year, as the only companies to reach this valuation.

Google Cloud, bolstered by AI-powered tools like Vertex AI, has seen explosive growth, with revenue climbing 28% year-over-year in the latest quarter. Meanwhile, Google’s advancements in generative AI, including its Gemini model, have strengthened its position against rivals like OpenAI and Amazon. Waymo, Alphabet’s self-driving car unit, also contributed to the momentum.

The broader tech sector has ridden a similar wave, with Nvidia briefly touching $3 trillion earlier this year on the back of its AI chip dominance. However, concerns linger about market concentration, with critics warning that the rally in mega-cap tech stocks could signal an overheated market. Regulatory scrutiny also looms, as Alphabet faces ongoing antitrust challenges in the US and Europe over its search and advertising practices.