Alphabet shares close above $200 value for first time

Stock Performance - Alphabet shares closed at $200 per share for the first time on Friday, gaining 1.1% on the day and over 2% for the week [1] - The stock is up almost 6% in 2025, outperforming the Nasdaq which is up 3.3% year-to-date [1] - Alphabet shares have gained 35% in the past year, underperforming Nvidia (132%), Tesla (96%), Meta and Amazon but outperforming Apple and Microsoft [5] Financial Results - Alphabet's Q3 revenue increased 15% YoY to $88.3 billion, accelerating from 11% growth in the same period in 2024 [3] - The company achieved record cloud revenue in Q3 [3] AI Developments - Alphabet is making progress on AI agent products Project Astra and Project Mariner, as well as its large language model Gemini 2.0 released in 2024 [4] - Despite increased competition from OpenAI and others in generative AI, analysts view Google as a winner in AI due to new features across its product portfolio [3] - The second half of 2024 featured several important AI product launches despite some mishaps earlier in the year [4] Industry Context - Tech megacap companies including Microsoft, Meta, Tesla and Apple are scheduled to report earnings next week, with Alphabet set to report Q4 results on Feb 4 [2] - Google executives expect increased competition, regulatory hurdles and AI advancements in 2025 [4]