Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) has had its share of court cases to fight off these days, but one case against it—the antitrust case—isn’t looking good. In fact, word out of Barclays suggests that Alphabet is likely to lose that one. Investors aren’t particularly concerned, meanwhile, as they’ve sent Alphabet shares up over 1.5% in Tuesday morning’s trading.
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The latest word from Barclays follows a downright disturbing revelation: that Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) is actually getting 36% of the revenue from Google search advertising that comes through the Safari browser. Earlier reports suggested that the number was much less, but now, we know that the actual number was significantly higher all along. That’s likely to put some extra force behind the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in the UK, and, in turn, give it a win over Alphabet. Reports note that, when the number was actually read, John Schmidtlein, a lawyer with Google “…visibly cringed.”
Regulators May Mandate “Choice Screens”
That led to a discussion of what the CMA is likely to do. A quick look at a 2020 report the agency issued suggested some possibilities, starting with mandated “choice screens” and an outright limit on how much of the search revenue Google is permitted to hand over. Other analysts have pointed out that those “choice screens” are already in play on some Android devices in Europe, and the impact to Alphabet’s market cap has been relatively limited.
Are Google Shares a Good Buy?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Strong Buy consensus rating on GOOG stock based on four Buys and one Hold assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 37.51% rally in its share price over the past year, the average GOOG price target of $152 per share implies 12.04% upside potential.
