Alphabet on Monday made history and broke through the $4 trillion market capitalisation threshold, joining an exclusive club of companies that have reached the milestone, thanks to investors backing Google's dominance in artificial intelligence (AI).
The company's shares rose as much as 1.7% to $334.04 after news broke that Apple and Google had entered a multi-year deal for Gemini models to power the next generation of the former’s virtual assistant, Siri.
The announcement cemented Alphabet as Wall Street's second-most valuable company, surpassing Apple for the first time since 2019.
Only Nvidia, Microsoft, and Apple have previously crossed the $4 trillion mark.
The milestone caps a remarkable turnaround in investor sentiment. Alphabet's stock surged approximately 65% in 2025, outperforming its peers among the elite "Magnificent Seven" tech stocks, and has gained another 6% so far this year.
Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Alphabet's stock on January 8, with analyst Deepak Mathivanan calling the company the "king of all AI trades" and setting a price target of $370. The firm cited Google's strengths across the entire AI value chain, from its proprietary Ironwood tensor processing units to large language models and consumer applications.
Alphabet's market cap: a timeline
The Google parent's valuation has seen a dramatic rise since 2010, kicked off by mobile expansion, the rise of cloud computing, and eventually, the AI wave.
The AI party
Alphabet battled concerns about falling behind in the ever-competitive AI race, but as its earnings show in the past two years, it has converted its cloud unit into a major growth engine. Google Cloud revenue jumped 34% in the third quarter, with unrecognised sales contracts reaching $155 billion. The November launch of Gemini 3, which achieved record benchmark scores, drew strong reviews and intensified pressure on rival OpenAI after its GPT-5 left some users underwhelmed.
Apple's deal with Google will be a major fillip for Alphabet.
"After careful evaluation, we determined that Google's technology provides the most capable foundation for Apple Foundation Models," Apple said in a statement. The multi-year deal will utilise Gemini models and cloud infrastructure for future Apple AI features.
Big deals
Google Gemini also struck a deal with Samsung to double its Google Gemini-powered mobile devices to 800 million units in 2026, up from 400 million last year.
As per a report by The Information, the company has attracted interest from Meta Platforms as well for TPU chips, to be used in its data centres starting 2027.
Last September, the company also got some relief on the antitrust ruling front. A federal judge ruled that Google won't have to sell its Chrome browser, handing a rare win to Big Tech in its battle with US antitrust enforcers. But the judge ordered Google to share data with its rivals to open up competition in online search.
The company's shares rose as much as 1.7% to $334.04 after news broke that Apple and Google had entered a multi-year deal for Gemini models to power the next generation of the former’s virtual assistant, Siri.
The announcement cemented Alphabet as Wall Street's second-most valuable company, surpassing Apple for the first time since 2019.
Only Nvidia, Microsoft, and Apple have previously crossed the $4 trillion mark.
The milestone caps a remarkable turnaround in investor sentiment. Alphabet's stock surged approximately 65% in 2025, outperforming its peers among the elite "Magnificent Seven" tech stocks, and has gained another 6% so far this year.
Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Alphabet's stock on January 8, with analyst Deepak Mathivanan calling the company the "king of all AI trades" and setting a price target of $370. The firm cited Google's strengths across the entire AI value chain, from its proprietary Ironwood tensor processing units to large language models and consumer applications.
Alphabet's market cap: a timeline
The Google parent's valuation has seen a dramatic rise since 2010, kicked off by mobile expansion, the rise of cloud computing, and eventually, the AI wave.
- December 2010: The market capitalisation was at $190 billion, and the company was growing, cementing its place in search.
- 2014: Valuation reaches $360 billion on the back of mobile ads and the Android ecosystem taking off.
- January 2020: The company becomes the fourth US firm to breach $1 trillion in market capitalisation, after Apple, Amazon and Microsoft.
- April 2024: $2 trillion valuation crossed. Alphabet announces first dividend, and a $70 billion share buyback.
- September 2025: Amid cloud business acceleration and relief in an antitrust case, market cap breaches $3 trillion.
- January 2026: Valuation breaches $4 trillion on the back of the Apple deal, and Gemini's rise in the AI race.
The AI party
Alphabet battled concerns about falling behind in the ever-competitive AI race, but as its earnings show in the past two years, it has converted its cloud unit into a major growth engine. Google Cloud revenue jumped 34% in the third quarter, with unrecognised sales contracts reaching $155 billion. The November launch of Gemini 3, which achieved record benchmark scores, drew strong reviews and intensified pressure on rival OpenAI after its GPT-5 left some users underwhelmed.
Apple's deal with Google will be a major fillip for Alphabet.
"After careful evaluation, we determined that Google's technology provides the most capable foundation for Apple Foundation Models," Apple said in a statement. The multi-year deal will utilise Gemini models and cloud infrastructure for future Apple AI features.
Big deals
Google Gemini also struck a deal with Samsung to double its Google Gemini-powered mobile devices to 800 million units in 2026, up from 400 million last year.
As per a report by The Information, the company has attracted interest from Meta Platforms as well for TPU chips, to be used in its data centres starting 2027.
Last September, the company also got some relief on the antitrust ruling front. A federal judge ruled that Google won't have to sell its Chrome browser, handing a rare win to Big Tech in its battle with US antitrust enforcers. But the judge ordered Google to share data with its rivals to open up competition in online search.
