Alphabet (GOOGL) investors will likely be on the edge of their seats today as the Justice Department is expected to reveal potential steps to restore competition in the online search market, which could include breaking up Google, according to a report from Reuters. This comes after a federal ruling that found Google holds an illegal monopoly in the search market.
Competitors like Yelp, DuckDuckGo, and adMarketplace have suggested that Google should either spin off its Chrome browser or stop paying billions of dollars to make its search engine the default on devices like Apple’s iPhone.
Yelp specifically has called for the court to consider forcing Google to spin off its Chrome browser and AI services and wants Google to stop prioritizing its own business pages over those of competitors like Yelp. Meanwhile, adMarketplace has stated that the possibility of a breakup could be used as leverage to enforce less drastic reforms. Furthermore, DuckDuckGo is pushing for the court to require Google to license its search results to other search engine companies in order to help them build better products.
Undoubtedly, this case has the potential to reshape how Americans search for information online. However, investors are currently not worried, as shares of the tech giant are slightly up in today’s trading.
Is GOOGL Stock a Buy?
Turning to Wall Street, GOOGL stock has a Strong Buy consensus rating based on 30 Buys and nine Holds assigned in the last three months. After a 19% rally in its share price over the past 12 months, the average GOOGL price target of $201.64 implies 22.84% upside from current levels.
