Alphabet Shares Surge as Antitrust Ruling Avoids Forced Chrome Sale

Alphabet (GOOGL) shares jumped more than 8% in after-hours trading after a federal judge delivered a landmark ruling in the government's antitrust case against Google, ordering the tech giant to end exclusive search contracts but stopping short of forcing a sale of its valuable Chrome browser.

The decision by U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta was seen by investors as a significant victory for the company, removing the worst-case scenario of a forced breakup that the U.S. Department of Justice had sought. The ruling follows a historic legal battle in which Google was in the internet search market.

While the company will be prohibited from entering into exclusive agreements that make its search engine the default choice on browsers and smartphones, the court will not block Google from making payments to partners for default placement. This arrangement is crucial to its partnership with companies like Apple, which receives billions of dollars annually from Google. Following the news, Apple (AAPL) shares also rose 4%.

In the ruling, Judge Mehta stated that the DOJ's request for a forced divestiture of Chrome was an overreach. "Plaintiffs overreached in seeking forced divesture of these key assets, which Google did not use to effect any illegal restraints," the decision noted. The court determined that cutting off payments to distribution partners would inflict "substantial downstream harms."

However, the ruling does impose new obligations on the company. Google will be required to share certain search index and user interaction data with rivals under normal commercial terms, a move designed to foster more competition. The company has announced its intention to appeal the ruling, which could delay the implementation of these remedies. The decision marks a pivotal moment for the tech sector, setting a potential precedent for how courts will handle .