Shares of Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) (NASDAQ:GOOG) are on watch after AI-startup Perplexity offered to purchase its cornerstone Chrome browser for $34.5 billion, according to a WSJ report.
What To Know: The longshot bid comes as a U.S. District Judge considers remedies after ruling Google illegally monopolized the search market, with a forced sale of the browser being a possible, though unlikely, outcome.
Perplexity’s offer may be an attempt to signal to the judge that an interested buyer exists for Chrome should a sale be forced. Per the WSJ report, Google has not indicated any willingness to sell its browser, which accounts for over 60% of the global market.
Perplexity is a San Francisco-based artificial intelligence startup founded in 2022 that aims to challenge Google’s web-search dominance. The company recently released its own web browser, named Comet.
What Else: This move adds to the narrative of AI challenging Google’s dominance, though the company’s core business remains strong. Dan Ives of Wedbush Securities recently stated, “The death of search is greatly exaggerated,” citing robust second-quarter earnings where search business sales grew 10% to $71.3 billion.
This financial strength persists even as 91% of fund managers in a Bank of America survey view US stocks as overvalued, the highest reading since 2001.
Meanwhile, Google continues to push its own AI initiatives, such as a partnership with NASA on an AI “Space Doctor,” while its DeepMind CEO acknowledges that inconsistency in AI remains a key roadblock toward developing more advanced artificial general intelligence.
Benzinga Edge Rankings: According to recent Benzinga Edge stock rankings for GOOGL, the company demonstrates particular strength in its Quality score, which is rated at an impressive 85.40. The stock also shows solid potential in Growth and Momentum, with scores of 73.36 and 72.29, respectively.
Its lowest-rated category is Value, which is scored at a more neutral 50.44, suggesting the stock is not considered a significant bargain at its current price based on this metric.
Price Action: According to data from Benzinga Pro, GOOGL shares are trading higher by 1.5% to $204.64 Tuesday afternoon. The stock has a 52-week high of $207.05 and a 52-week low of $140.53.
Read Also: BigBear.AI Stock Is Tumbling Tuesday: Here’s Why
How To Buy GOOGL Stock
By now you're likely curious about how to participate in the market for Alphabet – be it to purchase shares, or even attempt to bet against the company.
Buying shares is typically done through a brokerage account. You can find a list of possible trading platforms here. Many will allow you to buy “fractional shares,” which allows you to own portions of stock without buying an entire share.
If you're looking to bet against a company, the process is more complex. You'll need access to an options trading platform, or a broker who will allow you to “go short” a share of stock by lending you the shares to sell. The process of shorting a stock can be found at this resource. Otherwise, if your broker allows you to trade options, you can either buy a put option, or sell a call option at a strike price above where shares are currently trading – either way it allows you to profit off of the share price decline.
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