Top 10 Trending AI Stocks in Q4

6. Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 165

Jefferies recently published a report citing an antitrust expert who believes it will take years for the DoJ to settle the case against Google.

“The antitrust expert hosted by our US Internet team believes it could take 3 to 8 years to settle,” analyst Edison Lee wrote in a note to clients.

The analyst specifically mentioned the impact of Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s loss in this case on Apple.

 “We est if AAPL loses 1/3 of GOOG rev (US only) as of FY28, our DCF will be ~8% (US$19) lower.”

Lee, who holds a Hold rating on Apple, indicated that the revenue decline would only affect the U.S., though he warned that other countries might also react if the DOJ is successful. He assumes there would be no compensation from a revenue-sharing agreement with Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) or other search engines, representing the most pessimistic scenario.

Oakmark Select Fund stated the following regarding Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) in its Q3 2024 investor letter:

“Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) was the top detractor during the quarter. The U.S.-based communication services company’s stock price fell after a U.S. District Court ruled that Google violated Section 2 of the Sherman Act by maintaining a monopoly in general search engine services via exclusive distribution agreements. We think this case is unlikely to hurt Alphabet’s valuation over the long term as regulations previously en[1]acted in the European Union to address similar issues did not materially erode the company’s market share. We continue to believe that Alphabet is an attractive investment.”