Investors are clearly bullish on Google. Shares of Alphabet, the parent company of the search giant, have surged nearly 77% over the past six months. On Friday, Alphabet even surpassed Microsoft to become the third-most valuable U.S. company by market capitalization, following the launch of its newest AI model, Gemini 3, earlier this week.
Beyond Doodling
Gemini 3 has set a new benchmark in the AI chatbot race, outperforming ChatGPT and other competitors in industry tests. On Thursday, Google also unveiled an updated version of its image-generation tool, Nano Banana Pro, which VP of Google Labs and Gemini, Josh Woodward, told CNBC is “incredible at infographics” and can even generate polished slide decks.
This marks a major turnaround from 2022, when investors feared Google was falling behind in the AI race.
Alphabet Is More Than Just AI
Alphabet’s growth isn’t limited to AI. In the last quarter, cloud revenue jumped 32%, while search revenue grew 15% year over year. Meanwhile, YouTube continues to dominate the online video space. According to Pew Research Center’s latest report on U.S. social media usage:
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YouTube is the most widely used online platform among both adults and teens.
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84% of U.S. adults report using YouTube, compared with 71% for Facebook.
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Nearly half of adults use YouTube daily.
Google Drive: Waymo and Beyond
Waymo, Alphabet’s self-driving car subsidiary, is also expanding rapidly. Currently operational in five U.S. cities, the company plans to extend services to 12 more locations. Last week, Waymo cleared regulatory hurdles to expand its territory across the Bay Area and Southern California.
Potential Challenges Ahead
However, Alphabet faces legal scrutiny. Earlier this year, a federal judge ruled that Google violated antitrust laws to boost its advertising business. The government is seeking a remedy that could require Google to dismantle its ad exchange — a move that could significantly impact the company. The final decision is expected next year.
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