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The latest ruling for Google in the company’s antitrust case will likely remove any overhang for Alphabet shares, Piper Sandler wrote Thursday. Analyst Thomas Champion reiterated his overweight rating on the “Magnificent Seven” name and hiked his price target to $285 from $220. That updated target reflects more than 14% upside from Wednesday’s close. Earlier this month, a federal judge ruled that Google is able to keep its Chrome browser , after another judge had ruled that Google illegally held a monopoly in internet search. That latest judicial victory gave a boost to shares. Alphabet is up more than 17% over the past month. GOOGL 6M mountain GOOGL, 6-month “Google will likely be required to share some data with competitors and outright competitive exclusions disallowed. We think the market is appropriately reflecting a positive outcome for GOOGL, which is avoiding a structural remedy or wholesale rewiring of the distribution / [original equipment manufacturer] economic order,” the analyst wrote on Thursday. “The market has appropriately decided that GOOGL warrants a multiple re-rating, and we foresee healthy spending trends on the advertiser side.” On top of the recent ruling, Champion highlighted the company’s execution in search, which he believes could re-accelerate in 2026. He also believes Alphabet’s performance in the artificial intelligence market could be a catalyst for growth for the name. “Positively, according to Polymarket, Google now has a ~75%+ chance to exit 2025 with the top LLM in Gemini. Given the valuations implied for OpenAI’s recent funding rounds, we think this point alone is enough to drive multiple expansion,” the analyst wrote. Like Champion, most analysts are bullish on Alphabet. Fifty-two of 64 analysts covering the stock have a strong buy or buy rating, according to LSEG. Only 12 have a hold equivalent rating. Alphabet shares were more than 1% higher in the premarket Thursday. ( Learn the best 2026 strategies from inside the NYSE with Josh Brown and others at CNBC PRO Live. Tickets and info here . )
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