Alphabet, the parent company of Google, has become the fourth company in the world to be worth $4 trillion. This happened soon after its share price rose about 1% on Monday. Alphabet’s shares went up after Apple said it had chosen Google’s Gemini technology as the base for its artificial intelligence models and the next version of Siri. Investors saw this as a big win for Google’s AI work.
Joining an elite group of companies
With this rise, Alphabet joined Nvidia, Microsoft and Apple as the only companies to cross the $4 trillion mark. Nvidia and Microsoft first reached this level in July and Apple crossed it in October. Since then, Apple and Microsoft have fallen below $4 trillion, but now Alphabet has moved up to join them. Alphabet’s entry into this elite group comes after a very strong year on Wall Street. Its shares jumped 65% in 2025, the biggest rise since 2009, when the stock doubled after the financial crisis.
How Alphabet made its AI comeback
The company’s rise is linked to its efforts to rebuild confidence in its artificial intelligence business and deal with important regulatory challenges. In November, Alphabet introduced Ironwood, the seventh generation of its custom AI chips, called tensor processing units. These chips are seen as a possible alternative to Nvidia’s popular AI processors. In December, Google also launched Gemini 3, which received very positive reviews.
Standing firm regardless of tough competition
Even though services like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Sora are becoming more popular, and there are worries about how AI chatbots could affect online advertising, Alphabet has managed to calm fears that its best days are over.
As reported by CNBC, in a January 8 note, analyst Deepak Mathivanan upgraded Alphabet’s stock. “We believe the technological advantages of the Gemini assistant app — powered by Google’s ‘grounding’ assets — vs. ChatGPT (powered by Bing and partner integrations) are underappreciated,” Mathivanan wrote. Google “arguably, has the strongest footprint across several layers in the AI tech stack, and the company’s decade-long investments have enabled deep competitive moats.”
Citi analysts also named Google a top internet pick for 2026. They said that 70% of Google Cloud customers use its AI products and added, “Google has the chip, the infrastructure capacity, and the model amid growing demand.”
Big gains and a higher valuation
So far this year, Alphabet’s stock is up 4.8%, adding to last year’s gain of more than 65%. That rise in 2025 alone added almost $1.5 trillion to the company’s market value. The stock now trades at about 28 times estimated earnings, close to its highest level since 2021 and well above its 10-year average.
Alphabet also received a rare stamp of approval for a tech company when Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway revealed in November that it had bought a stake in the company. This showed confidence from an investor who is usually careful about investing in technology stocks.