DOJ’s recommended Google remedies unlikely to be approved by court, says Baird

After the DOJ recommended remedies to restrict Google Search and other products, including asking the court to prohibit Google from paying for default search agreements and forcing Google to sell off Chrome, Baird called the remedies “a wish-list of restrictions on Google that stray well beyond the court’s ruling.” The firm believes shares of parent Alphabet (GOOG) (GOOGL) are trading lower on the recommendations related to the Apple (AAPL) search agreement and remedies that “in a worst-case (unlikely) scenario” could seriously damage Google’s competitive position in search and GenAI, but the firm says it views many of the DOJ’s recommendations as “unlikely to be approved by the court, or to survive an appeals process.” Baird keeps an Outperform rating and $205 price target on Alphabet shares.