Federal Judge Amit Mehta ruled on September 2 that Google does not need to divest its Chrome browser and Android operating system businesses. This decision is seen as a "rare victory" for Google in its battle against federal antitrust enforcers.
The market reacted quickly and strongly. On September 3, Google’s stock price soared by 9.14%, with its market value increasing by $233.4 billion overnight (approximately 1.666 trillion RMB), setting a new historical high.
The judge’s ruling resolves the crisis.
This legal battle, which has lasted nearly five years, began in October 2020 when the U.S. Department of Justice filed an antitrust lawsuit against Google, accusing it of illegally monopolizing the search engine and search advertising markets.
Judge Mehta stated in the ruling that Google does not need to divest its Chrome browser and Android system business, but it must share more search result data with competitors and establish an antitrust technology committee to oversee company operations.
Market analysts generally believe that this ruling is extremely favorable for Google. Evercore ISI Internet research head Mark Mahaney stated, "This is obviously a positive event for Google’s stock price; the interference has disappeared, and now we can focus on the fundamentals."
Tech stocks benefit across the board
Google’s victory also benefits other tech companies. Apple’s stock price rose by 3.81%, reaching its highest level since March of this year.
This ruling means that Google can continue to pay Apple billions of dollars to maintain its position as the default search engine on the iPhone.
The Nasdaq Composite Index rose by 1.02% on the day, closing at 21,497.73 points; the S&P 500 index increased by 0.51%, closing at 6,448.26 points. Only the Dow Jones index fell slightly by 0.05% due to fewer technology companies among its components.
Macroeconomic factors boost
The rise of tech stocks is also attributable to changes in the macroeconomic environment. Job vacancies in the U.S. fell to 7.18 million in July, the lowest level in 10 months, indicating that the labor market is cooling.
This data has strengthened market expectations for a rate cut by the Federal Reserve. According to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange’s FedWatch Tool, traders anticipate a 95.6% chance that the Federal Reserve will cut rates by 25 basis points at its September meeting.
The medium- to long-term U.S. Treasury yields have subsequently decreased, with the benchmark 10-year Treasury falling by 3.9 basis points to 4.22%, and the 2-year Treasury, closely related to interest rate expectations, dropping by 1.8 basis points to 3.63%.
Cryptocurrency market reaction
Despite the ruling in April that Google illegally monopolized advertising, which led to a sharp decline in the cryptocurrency market, this positive court decision did not trigger a similarly drastic reaction in the crypto market.
According to historical data, when Google faces legal challenges, AI-related tokens are often affected. A ruling in April caused Bitcoin to drop by 4.5% within 15 minutes, and AI-related tokens such as SingularityNET (AGIX) and Fetch.AI (FET) also experienced significant declines.
This correlation stems from the reliance of AI projects on advertising revenue and the significant influence of Google in the field of AI development.
The latest developments of tech giants
Google has recently launched multiple strategic layouts in the fields of cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence. The company has partnered with the Bitcoin mining company TeraWulf through its AI cloud platform Fluidstack, acquiring an 8% stake in the company.
In addition, the Google Play Store has also adjusted its cryptocurrency policy, requiring cryptocurrency exchanges and software wallet developers to obtain local government approval when launching services in specific regions. The new policy will take effect on October 29, 2025.
Google is still in preliminary talks with several cryptocurrency companies about integrating stablecoins, which could be used to reduce transaction costs or optimize cross-border payments.
Market Outlook and Risks
Despite Google’s court victory, the challenges the company faces are far from over. Google is set to go to trial in September to respond to another lawsuit from the U.S. Department of Justice, in which a judge has ruled that Google holds an illegal monopoly in the online advertising technology space.
Furthermore, the French National Commission on Informatics and Liberty (CNIL) announced on September 3rd that it has fined Google 325 million euros (approximately 381 million dollars) for improperly displaying ads to Gmail users and using cookies without the consent of Google account users.
The latest Beige Book released by the Federal Reserve shows that since July, there has been little change in economic activity and employment levels in the United States, while companies in most Federal Reserve districts expect prices to continue rising in the coming months.
Future Outlook
Investors are paying attention to the release of the US CPI data on Thursday night and the European Central Bank’s policy meeting. Analysts expect the European Central Bank to keep interest rates stable but take a more cautious approach towards future easing policies.
The recent performance of technology stocks will depend on these macroeconomic factors as well as corporate earnings. Oracle’s stock price recently soared 36%, marking its best single-day performance since 1992, due to a surge in demand for its multi-cloud database services.
Whether the Nasdaq index can maintain its upward momentum may depend on whether Google can translate this legal victory into more sustainable performance growth.
