Alphabet Rises 1.16% on 10th-Highest Volume Amid Perplexity's $34.5B Chrome Acquisition Bid

Alphabet (GOOGL) rose 1.16% on August 12, with a trading volume of $6.18 billion, ranking 10th in market activity. The stock’s performance coincided with news of AI startup Perplexity’s $34.5 billion unsolicited bid to acquire Google’s Chrome browser. Perplexity, valued at $18 billion, claims investor backing for the deal, which could address antitrust concerns surrounding Google’s dominance in online search and browser markets. The offer follows a 2024 ruling by Judge Amit Mehta, who declared Google a monopolist in internet search and mandated remedies that may include divesting Chrome.

The antitrust case, initiated in 2020 by the Department of Justice and 11 states, alleges Google used anticompetitive practices to maintain its market control. Perplexity’s proposal aims to satisfy potential court-mandated solutions by transferring Chrome to an independent operator. However, analysts note the bid’s viability remains uncertain. RBC Capital’s Brad Erickson suggested the offer’s value—estimated at a fraction of Chrome’s projected $20–$50 billion enterprise value—might not sway judicial decisions. He also highlighted OpenAI, valued over 15 times higher than Perplexity, as a more credible buyer in a forced sale scenario.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai has previously argued that divesting Chrome could harm the company’s business and innovation pipeline. The browser, with 4 billion users, underpins Google’s advertising and data ecosystem. Perplexity emphasized its commitment to preserving Chrome’s open-source infrastructure and maintaining Google as the default search engine. Legal proceedings remain unresolved, with Google planning to appeal both the 2024 monopoly ruling and any subsequent remedies. The outcome will likely shape regulatory scrutiny of big tech’s market influence in the coming months.

The strategy of buying the top 500 stocks by daily trading volume and holding them for one day resulted in a moderate return. The total profit from this strategy, considering the given time period from 2022 to the present, is $2,340. The maximum drawdown during this period was -15.3%, which occurred on October 27, 2022. This indicates that while the strategy has the potential for gains, it is not without risk, as evidenced by the significant loss in value during the period of maximum drawdown.