Topline
Shares of Google parent Alphabet tumbled Wednesday after its key partner Apple indicated Google’s days of search engine dominance on Apple devices may be numbered, causing Google stock to limp toward one of its largest losses ever, the latest test for the company as generative artificial intelligence reshapes users’ search habits.
Google paid Apple $20 billion in 2022 in its search engine arrangement.
Key Facts
Eddy Cue, the senior vice president of Apple’s services unit overseeing the App Store and Apple devices’ default Safari browser, testified as part of the federal government’s ongoing antitrust case against Google that Apple is “actively looking” at adding AI-powered search options to Safari, according to Bloomberg.
Cue said the company will likely add generative AI search options from the likes of OpenAI or Perplexity AI as search options in Safari, though he added he believes Google should remain the default option.
April was the first month search activity on Safari ever slipped, according to Cue.
Alphabet stock tanked more than 8%, or $13, to $152 per share by mid afternoon.
That would be the worst percentage loss for the stock since October 2023 and the third-largest share price decline since the company went public in 2004.
Big Number
$160 billion. That’s about how much market capitalization Alphabet lost Wednesday, more than the total valuations of Boeing, Comcast, Nike or Starbucks.
Key Background
Google is the default and search engine option now available on Safari, in a deal highly lucrative for both companies. Disclosures last year revealed Google paid Apple $20 billion in 2022 for the Safari arrangement, equivalent to 36% of the search advertising revenue Google made from search advertising on Safari that year, according to Morgan Stanley analysts. Alphabet generated $162 billion of its $283 billion in 2022 revenue from search, meaning Safari advertising revenue accounted for a fifth of all sales that year. Wednesday was far from the first generative AI-driven stock market challenge for Google, which has its own Gemini generative AI service. Shares of Alphabet declined 7% Feb. 8., 2023 after a teaser for Gemini predecessor Bard showed an error and dropped 5% Feb. 26, 2024 when Gemini’s image-generating program produced historically inaccurate depictions of historical figures. Alphabet stock has returned 31% over the last three years, trailing the S&P 500’s 42% gain.
Apple Stock Also Slips
Shares of Apple also slumped Wednesday, declining 1.5% to below $196 per share, moving against the 0.1% advance for the tech-heavy Nasdaq index. Shares of the Silicon Valley behemoth are down 8% since the company reported earnings last Thursday. Apple has similarly underperformed the broader market amid the generative AI revolution, returning 26% over the last three years.
