[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] Alphabet, Google's parent company, is expected to join the '1 Trillion Dollar Club' as the fourth U.S. stock market company after Apple, Amazon, and Microsoft, with a market capitalization approaching 1 trillion dollars.
On the 13th (local time), the British daily The Guardian reported that Alphabet reached an all-time high of $1,441.48 during trading on the 13th. Its market capitalization is nearing $980 billion (approximately 1,128 trillion KRW), raising expectations that it will soon surpass 1 trillion dollars.
Alphabet's stock price has been on a continuous rise since the beginning of this year. With earnings scheduled to be announced on February 3, expectations that advertising revenue will again show record growth have been reflected, resulting in a 7% increase in January compared to the end of the previous month. This is the highest growth rate since July 2019, and if Alphabet's stock price rises by just 1% more, it will join the 1 Trillion Dollar Club.
This growth of Alphabet has attracted more attention as it has occurred amid increasing scrutiny from regulatory authorities worldwide over Google's influence. It is analyzed that 90% of this record growth is contributed by Google, as global advertising and marketing expenses have concentrated online, significantly boosting revenue. According to the U.S.-based global e-commerce consulting firm eMarketer, Google holds 73% of the U.S. search advertising market and accounted for 31.1% of global digital advertising as of last year. Alphabet's revenue in the third quarter of last year was $40.3 billion, a 20% increase compared to the same period the previous year. Alphabet recorded cash holdings exceeding $17 billion last year.
Meanwhile, the top U.S. company by market capitalization is Apple, which first surpassed 1 trillion dollars among U.S. companies in August 2018 and is currently heading toward 2 trillion dollars. Microsoft followed by surpassing 1 trillion dollars in April 2019, and Amazon joined the 1 Trillion Dollar Club in September of the same year.
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