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The past year was full of panic for Alphabet (GOOGL). The market seriously feared that Google's absolute control in search would fall under the onslaught of AI solutions from Microsoft (MSFT) and OpenAI, and that key clients like Apple (AAPL) would turn away from the company. But reality put everything in its place. Google didn't just fend off attacks from competitors — it kept the crown, proving that its ecosystem is much stronger than pessimists thought.
GOOGL stock quotes responded logically. Today, shares trade at the $336 level, with the market capitalization having broken through the $4 trillion mark. But that raises a reasonable question: if the fears are behind us and the business works like clockwork, should investors expect the explosive rally to continue? That's where Google faces a fundamental macroeconomic problem.
