New York, Feb 25, 2026, 16:52 (EST) — After-hours
- Alphabet Class C shares fell about 1% in late trading.
- Google plans to test changes to Europe search results that could lift rival services, a source said.
- Traders are watching EU reaction and Thursday’s U.S. jobless claims for the next cue.
Alphabet Inc’s non-voting Class C shares (GOOG) fell $3.17, or about 1%, to $313.03 in after-hours trading on Wednesday, after moving between $310.02 and $319.27 in the session. A person with direct knowledge said Google will soon test changes to search results in Europe that would show top-ranked rival “vertical” search services — specialist sites for hotels, flights and restaurants — by default, starting with lodging queries before expanding to flights and other areas. The European Commission declined to comment; Google has paid 9.71 billion euros in EU antitrust fines since 2017, and Digital Markets Act penalties can run as high as 10% of global annual revenue. (Reuters)
The Digital Markets Act is the EU’s rulebook for “gatekeeper” platforms, designed to stop big online groups from steering users to their own products. For Google, the fight is over the layout of search — small shifts in placement can move clicks, and clicks turn into ads.
It also lands at a touchy point for megacap tech. Investors have been trying to price two things at once: heavier regulation in core businesses, and the cost of building out new AI infrastructure.
On Tuesday, Google signed agreements with Xcel Energy and AES as it lines up long-term electricity for U.S. data centers, with Xcel set to add 1,900 megawatts of new clean energy to its Minnesota grid, the utility said. Meta, Microsoft and Amazon’s AWS have also inked power supply deals with U.S. utilities as data-center demand climbs. (Reuters)
AES said its 20-year deal would supply power for a new Google data center in Texas, alongside co-located generation. Amanda Peterson Corio, Google’s global head of Data Center Energy, said the project would bring new clean generation online next to the facility, “helping keep energy costs in check.” (Reuters)
The broader tape was firmer. The Nasdaq rose 1.26% in regular trading, and Nvidia’s results helped steady nerves around AI spending, while Horizon Investments’ Zach Hill described a “push-pull” between sentiment and sharp price moves. (Reuters)
Some analysts have leaned into the bull case anyway. Wells Fargo upgraded Alphabet to “overweight” on Monday, with analyst Kevin Gawreski writing that “hyperscaler ambitions are bounded by compute capacity,” a view that favors operators with more data-center headroom. (Investors)
But Europe is not a side show for this stock. If Google’s tests fail to satisfy regulators — or rivals push back again — the company could still face a penalty and be forced into deeper changes that reshape how travel and local services surface in search.
The spending side is another pressure point. Bridgewater Associates said Alphabet, Amazon, Meta and Microsoft are on track to invest about $650 billion in AI infrastructure in 2026, and co-chief investment officer Greg Jensen warned the boom has entered a “more dangerous phase,” with “compute demand” still outrunning supply. (Reuters)
Alphabet’s Class C shares carry no voting rights, but they usually track the company’s voting Class A stock closely. Either way, the trade has been about the same question: how much pressure can the core business absorb while the company pays for the next one.
For the next session, investors will look for any signal on the pace and scope of Google’s Europe test and whether EU officials telegraph next steps. The nearest scheduled macro marker is Thursday’s weekly U.S. initial jobless claims report at 8:30 a.m. ET. (Investing)
