The stock market had a busy week. Surprisingly, a court ruling about Google in D.C. had a big impact. Usually, that only happens when it involves inflation or jobs. This decision in the antitrust case against Google made Google and Apple, and their shareholders, very happy.
Google’s stock price went up by over 7%, and Apple’s stock rose by more than 3%. Both companies saw their values increase quickly.
So, what happened, and why are investors so excited?
What the Judge Said
Judge Amit Mehta had a tough job. His decision seemed mixed. He wasn’t too hard on Google, but he did say Google can’t make deals that block other search engines. Google also has to share some search info.
But Wall Street cared about this: Google gets to keep Chrome. Even better, it can keep paying Apple billions to be the default search engine on iPhones. That deal brings in a lot of money, and it’s still happening.
Basically, Google doesn’t have to break up, and Apple keeps getting paid. Investors are okay with that.
AI Is Involved
Here’s something interesting: The ruling mentioned AI. It’s everywhere, even in legal stuff now. The judge said that AI will change how search works in the future.
This is important because the people who make the rules are thinking about AI search and assistants and what role Google and Apple will have.
Why the Market Was Happy
No Split: Investors were worried that Google might have to sell Chrome or YouTube. But it didn’t happen.
Apple Keeps the Search Deal: That means billions for Apple.
It’s Stable: The decision seems pretty fair and seems likely to hold up if someone questions it.
One expert said the order was the best Google could have gotten without winning completely.
What This Means for the Market
It wasn’t just Google and Apple that did well. Other tech companies got a little boost, too. The stock market was down earlier but bounced back. Also, the oil company TechnipFMC is being added to the S&P MidCap 400 index.
When Google and Apple do well, it often helps other companies, too.
What This Means for Google
The order to share data and not make deals that lock others out does change things a bit. It might help other search engines like DuckDuckGo or Bing. But Google is still doing great.
What This Means for Apple
Apple keeps getting paid by Google. That’s what’s most important. Some people have said this isn’t fair, but the judge didn’t stop it. It’s basically free money for Apple right now. People are mostly watching Google, but regulators will still be watching Apple.
The Big Picture
This ruling tells us that the people in charge want to keep Big Tech in line, but not destroy it, at least not yet. They’re trying to keep things stable, which is good for investors. Things being less unpredictable usually means stock prices go up.