Why Alphabet Stock Was Moving Higher Today

Shares of Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL) moved higher today after the tech giant was named a top stock for 2025 by Barron's and seemed to benefit from broader market news.

As a result, the stock was up 4.3% at 12:46 p.m. ET.

Image source: Getty Images.

Alphabet keeps climbing

A number of news items seemed to lift the tech stock higher today as it added to last week's gains after the launch of its quantum computing chip, Willow.

Today, investors seemed to react to Barron's choice to include Alphabet on the list of its 10 favorite stocks to buy for 2025. Alphabet was the only "Magnificent Seven" stock to make the list, and the tech giant is cheaper than most of those peers, still trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 26 even as the stock reached an all-time high today.

In other news that could favor Alphabet, the incoming Trump administration wants to drop a car-crash reporting requirement related to autonomous vehicles, which could benefit Waymo as it attempts to scale up its autonomous vehicle business, and investors also seem to think that Trump's choice to head the Federal Trade Commission, Andrew Ferguson, is likely to be friendlier to big tech than Lina Khan, the current head.

Finally, a report this weekend said that CEO Sundar Pichand and co-founder Sergey Brin dined with Trump on Thursday, offering another sign of possibly improved relations with the new administration.

What's next for Alphabet

Alphabet, which still makes most of its money from search advertising, is closely tied to the broader economy, so the stock is likely to continue doing well if the global economy remains stable and continues to expand next year.

Given its valuation, it does seem safer than some of its Magnificent Seven peers, though its advertising business still faces risk as artificial intelligence technology evolves.

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Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Jeremy Bowman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.