Google offsets Nvidia drop as megacaps add $420 billion to market value in 3 days

Eight of the most valuable tech firms in the US just pulled off a $420 billion rally in only three trading days. The total value of these trillion-dollar companies now stands at $21 trillion, with Google at the center of the momentum.

The biggest surge came after US District Judge Amit Mehta handed down a ruling in Google’s antitrust case. Instead of breaking up the company or forcing it to offload its Chrome browser, Mehta ordered a narrower remedy; Google has to share its search data with rivals.

That news sent Alphabet shares up 9% on Wednesday alone. Apple surged too, because the ruling lets them keep their deal with Google, where Alphabet pays billions to remain the default search engine on iPhones.

Broadcom lands OpenAI deal while Alphabet shrugs off EU fine

Alphabet ended the week up more than 10%. Apple added 3.2%. Nasdaq climbed 1.1%. Analysts from Wedbush Securities said the ruling “removed a huge overhang” from Google’s stock and cleared a “black cloud worry” over Apple.

They said it also opens the door for a larger AI deal between Apple and Google, involving the Gemini model.

The Department of Justice had been going after Big Tech since 2020. Google, Apple, Amazon, and Meta all faced lawsuits over market power. A year ago, Google lost the DOJ trial, a case many saw as the biggest since Microsoft’s in the 1990s.

But Mehta’s ruling this week wasn’t as severe as expected. He said the rise of generative AI had reshaped the market, with new players like OpenAI, Anthropic, and Perplexity competing with Google in ways traditional search didn’t allow. Mehta said these AI technologies “may yet prove to be game changers.”

On Friday, Alphabet faced another legal hit, this time from Europe. The company was fined €2.95 billion ($3.45 billion) by the European Union for anti-competitive behavior in the ad tech market. But investors didn’t care. Shares held up.

While OpenAI influenced Google and Apple indirectly, it drove a direct move in Broadcom’s stock. After the company reported stronger-than-expected earnings on Thursday, CEO Hock Tan told analysts that Broadcom had signed a $10 billion deal with a new customer.

Several analysts identified the customer as OpenAI, as Cryptopolitan reported. The Financial Times also reported a deal between the two. Broadcom, which already supplies custom AI chips to Google, Meta, and ByteDance (TikTok’s parent), gained 13% this week.

Its stock is now up 120% over the last year, bringing the company’s market value to about $1.6 trillion. Barclays analysts wrote that the company “is firing on all cylinders” and kept their buy rating while raising their price target.

Nvidia and Microsoft slide, Tesla gains after Musk bonus proposal

While others gained, Nvidia fell 4%, its fourth straight weekly drop. There was no clear reason behind the decline, but that didn’t stop the slip. Still, Nvidia remains the world’s most valuable company at over $4 trillion. The stock is up 56% in the past year.

Microsoft also dipped this week, continuing a five-week losing streak. The company’s shares are still up 21% over the last 12 months, but the recent stretch has been red.

Tesla has had a rough year, with shares down 13% in 2025. Sales have slipped for multiple quarters, and cheaper electric cars from China have added more pressure. The company’s aging EV lineup hasn’t helped either.

But this week, Tesla reversed the trend. Shares rose 5%, mostly due to Friday’s news that the company wants to bring back a massive pay plan for CEO Elon Musk. The plan, potentially worth up to $1 trillion, includes 12 payout stages.

The first one doesn’t activate unless Tesla nearly doubles in value to hit a $2 trillion market cap.

Chairwoman Robyn Denholm spoke with CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin and said the plan is meant to keep Musk, who is still the world’s richest person, “motivated and focused on delivering for the company.”

As all this unfolded, the eight trillion-dollar tech companies swelled to make up 36% of the S&P 500. Like Howard Silverblatt, senior index analyst at S&P Dow Jones Indices, said: “There are no comparisons.”

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